Fact Check: Trade in goods deficit China $31.7 billion lower in 2020 than in 2016

Oct. 22, 2020, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement debunking former Vice President Joe Biden’s claim that the trade deficit with China is higher when it isn’t:

“The U.S. trade in goods deficit with China is $31.7 billion lower in the first eight months of 2020 than it was in the first eight months of 2016, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Former Vice President Joe Biden is simply lying, just like he did in the first debate. The Trump administration has levied 25 percent tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese goods and another 7.5 percent on the remaining $300 billion of goods, and even got China to agree to a phase one trade agreement while leaving those tariffs in place. Trump got tough on China. Biden, in contrast, voted for permanent normal trade relations with China, and helped close a sweetheart deal with a 2013 Memorandum of Understanding with China that let 156 Chinese companies to be listed on U.S. exchanges with a market cap of $1.2 trillion. If Biden wins, it will just be same old Joe, making bad deals with China and selling out the American people.”

Attachments:

Debate Fact Check: Biden Wrong on China Trade Deficit, By Robert Romano, Sept. 30, 2020 at http://dailytorch.com/2020/09/biden-is-wrong-trade-in-goods-deficit-w-china-was-higher-in-2015-when-he-was-vp/

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 or at [email protected].

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