Donald Trump has ordered officials to find a solution to the US trade deficits with China and other major economies just days ahead of a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The US president signed an executive order on Friday calling for a 90-day country-by-country and product-by-product study of the US’s $500bn annual trade deficit. China’s more than $300bn contribution to that will come under close scrutiny, administration officials said, and the study will examine possible solutions to be enacted even before it is finished.
“The jobs and wealth have been stripped from our country year after year, decade after decade, trade deficit upon trade deficit,” he said. “Thousands of factories have been stolen from our country.”