2016 Promise: Trump presented a campaign platform to reduce the trade deficit, and his aggressive use of tariffs has had some success in narrowing the bilateral trade gap with China. But the difference continued to expand with other countries.
Even with Trump’s tariffs, imports from China totaled $ 44.9 billion in November, the highest since December 2018. And US exports to China remained lagging behind the target set in the “phase one” agreement Trump signed in January.
Trump target: Under that agreement, China is expected to increase purchases of U.S. goods and services by $ 200 billion above 2017 levels over two years. This includes $ 76.7 billion in increased purchases in 2020 and $ 123.3 billion in 2021.
Where things are: US goods exports to China from January to November were $ 110 billion, about $ 20 billion less than in the first 11 months of 2017. In addition, US service exports to China were of about $ 28 billion in the first nine months of 2020, about $ 14 billion less than in the same period in 2017.
Final figures for 2020 will be released in February.