Did Trump Win the Trade War with China? The Data Says No

Trump blamed bad trade deals for the loss of American jobs, so he waged a trade war with China. It didn’t go well.

Signing Ceremony Phase One Trade Deal Between the U.S. & China (Image Credit: Public Domain)

One of the reasons for Trump’s appeal is that he promised to bring jobs back. He painted a picture of politicians and corporations selling out the American worker to line their own pockets by inking harmful trade deals, namely with China, the European Union, Canada, and Mexico. He positioned himself as the only one tough enough to renegotiate and put “America First.” So in 2018 he made good on his campaign promises and launched his trade wars with little input from economists because he believed “trade wars are good and easy to win.”

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He said at the beginning of the 2019 G7 conference that “we had horrible trade deals and I’m straightening them out. The biggest one by far is China” and that those in power have been “taking hundreds of billions of dollars out every year and putting it into China.” For many voters, he was seen as the white knight ready and able to correct the…