Trumps repeated claim: We dont have a surplus with anybody

By Nicole Lewis January 8 at 3:00 AM

“We don’t have a surplus with anybody. We have the worst deals.”
— President Trump, remarks during a rally in Pensacola, Fla., on Dec. 8, 2017



The United States’ trade deficit with other countries appears to be a thorn in President Trump’s side. He has repeatedly characterized the United States as being on the losing end of the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (from which he withdrew the United States before TPP became a reality). NAFTA governs trade between the United States, Mexico and Canada, and the TPP was intended to facilitate trade between the United States and 11 other countries around the Pacific Ocean.

As soon as Trump took office, he announced the United States’ withdrawal from the TPP. While NAFTA still governs trade between the United States, Mexico and Canada, Trump has repeatedly suggested that he can — and will — negotiate better NAFTA terms for the United States.

His main argument against the two trade deals are soaring trade deficits, in which the United States buys more goods than it sells.

At a rally last month in Pensacola, Fla., he broadened his claims about that deficit, which he usually reserves for NAFTA, and declared that the United States doesn’t have “a surplus with anybody.”

More:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2018/01/08/trumps-repeated-claim-that-we-dont-have-a-surplus-with-anybody/?utm_term=.e8eb7f5e65ae