President Donald Trump repeatedly asserts that “thousands” of companies are scurrying to flee China because of his tariffs. But Asia and trade experts say he is exaggerating data for political gain.
As the president tells it, U.S. and other firms have either moved or will move their production operations and supply chains off Chinese soil because he has slapped $250 billion worth of import duties on Chinese products. As recently as last Tuesday, Trump threatened further tariffs of $325 billion on goods from the Asian superpower. Experts, however, say the situation is not that black and white.
This now-familiar assertion comes up during official White House events, raucous campaign rallies, brief Q&A sessions with reporters, interviews and on Twitter. He did the latter last week in a series of tweets that began by appearing to take credit for the American rival’s economic sluggishness.
View the complete July 22 article by John T. Bennett on The Roll Call website here.