PolitiFact | Trade

The Poynter Institute

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All Fact-checks for Trade

stated on September 29, 2020 in the first presidential debate

“We have a higher deficit with China now than we did before.”

true

barely-true

stated on September 9, 2020 in a speech in Warren, Mich.

The “U.S. trade deficit is at an all-time high under Trump in the last three years.”

true

half-true

stated on July 7, 2020 in a TV segment

"Higher education is one of America's strongest export sectors. Over 1 million international students studied at American universities, (in the) 2018-19 school year. They contributed over $40 billion to the economy.”

true

true

stated on June 24, 2020 in an ad

“Trump lost a trade war that he started.”

true

mostly-true

stated on June 17, 2020 in an ad

“As a lawyer working in Korea, Nate McMurray helped send American jobs to Asia”

true

false

stated on March 8, 2020 in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press"

“Trade agreements like NAFTA and permanent normal trade relations with China, which forced American workers to compete against people making pennies an hour, has resulted in the loss of 160,000 jobs here in Michigan."

true

mostly-true

stated on January 16, 2020 in a tweet

"In #WI, over 44,000 jobs depend on trade with Mexico and Canada."

true

half-true

stated on January 30, 2020 in a tweet

Says the USMCA is the “biggest trade deal ever made.”

true

false

stated on January 14, 2020 in comments at a presidential debate

"The Machinists Union does not (support the USMCA trade deal). And every environmental organization in this country (also) opposes it."

true

mostly-true

stated on December 2, 2019 in a tweet

Says President Donald Trump is "waging a trade war against WI farmers -- forcing > 1600 dairy farms to close."

true

barely-true

stated on September 12, 2019 in a Facebook post

Ivanka Trump’s shoe line is made in China but is exempt from tariffs.

true

pants-fire

stated on August 13, 2019 in a Facebook post

"U.S. agricultural & food exports are expected to increase more than $2 billion annually under #USMCA"

true

true

stated on August 27, 2019 in an interview

The Amazon rainforest fires are "directly related to trade" tensions between the United States and China.

true

false

stated on August 21, 2019 in remarks at the White House

"Yesterday we had the strongest dollar in the history of our country."

true

false

stated on August 12, 2019 in a CNN interview

It "is estimated that as many as 300,000 auto workers may be out of a job before the end of the year."

true

false

stated on August 18, 2019 in an interview

U.S. tariffs on China are "not hurting anybody" in the United States.

true

pants-fire

stated on August 13, 2019 in a speech in Monaca, Pa.

"We were losing all our cases in the World Trade Organization. ... And then I came along. Now we’re winning a lot of cases because they know that they’re not on very solid ground."

true

barely-true

stated on August 13, 2019 in a speech at a chemical plant in Pennsylvania

Says the large trade deficit with Japan stems from them sending "millions of cars," while "we send them wheat," but the deficit is "changing rapidly."

true

barely-true

stated on July 12, 2019 in an interview

U.S. farmers are receiving $16 billion "out of the tariffs that we’ve gotten from China."

true

false

stated on July 12, 2019 in a speech at Derco Aerospace

"Mexico, they took 30% of our automobile business."

true

false

The art of the oversell: 10 times Trump’s bombastic rhetoric didn’t match reality

The art of the oversell: 10 times Trump’s bombastic rhetoric didn’t match reality

By Ciara O'Rourke • September 29, 2020

Explained: How Trump and Biden would confront China

Explained: How Trump and Biden would confront China

By Noah Y. Kim • September 14, 2020

Latest promises about Trade

Raise tariffs on goods imported into the U.S.

Use U.S. steel for infrastructure projects

Reverse China's entry into the World Trade Organization

Renegotiate NAFTA

Create a new trade enforcement unit that will address China's trade practices

Double American exports over the next five years

Create 1 million new manufacturing jobs by the end of 2016

Improve port security through better radiation detection

Strengthen the African Growth and Opportunity Act

Protect American intellectual property abroad

Create incentives for tree planting and promote carbon sequestration

Load more promises about Trade