Trade Deficit With China Decreased Under Trump

Suzy Woltmann

Politics

23rd October 2020

Trade Deficit With China Decreased Under Trump

The strict tariffs imposed by Trump helped decrease the deficit (Getty Images).

The Claim

The United States trade deficit with China went up under the Trump administration.

News posted on

Emerging story

During the final presidential debate on October 22, 2020, Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden said that President Donald Trump "talks about these great trade deals. He talks about the art of the deal; China’s perfected the art of the steal. We have a higher deficit with China than we did before."

The claim was soon picked up by social media users, including some who contested it.

Misbar’s Analysis

Misbar’s investigation found that the U.S. deficit with China in goods and services, which encompasses much of the trade deficit, actually decreased under the Trump administration.

When looking at goods only, the trade deficit with China reached record highs at the beginning of the Trump administration, but decreased in 2019.

The China-United States trade war began in full in 2018, when Trump began setting tariffs and trade barriers on China to help quell “unfair trade practices.” Trade actually increased in 2018, but in 2019 it fell dramatically. However, U.S. exports to China also decreased.