Washington
UJ
—
During a press conference aboard Air Force One on Sunday, President Donald Trump defended his newly implemented global tariffs by making a series of familiar, misleading statements regarding tariffs and trade.
As has been previously noted, Trump greatly exaggerated the US trade deficit with China, claiming it to be more than three times its actual value. He reiterated the incorrect assertion that China is responsible for paying the tariffs he enacted during his first term on Chinese imports, which were actually paid by US importers. Additionally, he inaccurately stated that Europe doesn’t purchase “anything” from the US, whereas the European Union imported approximately $649 billion worth of US goods in 2024.
Trump’s comments on Sunday also contained erroneous claims about various subjects, but this article will focus solely on tariffs and trade for fact-checking purposes.
Trump stated that the US has a trade deficit with China exceeding $1 trillion.
“We have a significant deficit issue with China. They enjoy a surplus of at least a trillion dollars a year. I believe it’s around a trillion-one,” he remarked.
As noted in previous fact-checks, these figures are grossly inaccurate. Official federal data indicates that the trade deficit with China in goods and services for 2024 was approximately $263 billion. Excluding services, where the US excels, and focusing solely on goods, the 2024 deficit with China was about $295 billion.
The US has never experienced a $1 trillion trade deficit with China. The goods trade deficit reached a record high of around $418 billion during Trump’s tenure in 2018 but fell back below $400 billion in subsequent years.
Trump reiterated his common statement that China is responsible for paying the tariffs he instituted on Chinese imports during his first term, erroneously claiming, “I received hundreds of billions of dollars from China during my four years.”
In reality, US importers, not foreign exporters like China, shoulder the tariff payments to the federal government, and numerous studies have shown that the American public bore the majority of the financial burden from Trump’s tariffs on China. Specific instances exist of companies passing these costs onto US consumers.
Trump also made several incorrect statements regarding trade with Europe, which were repetitions of earlier claims.
He asserted, “They don’t buy our cars. They don’t buy our food products. They don’t buy anything. Meanwhile, we buy their cars: Mercedes, Volkswagen, BMW. We import millions of cars from them. They take no cars. They don’t accept our food products. They don’t take anything.”
None of these statements are accurate.
The claim that “they don’t buy anything” is far from the truth. While the European Union does impose some trade barriers that complicate US companies’ ability to export products there, federal statistics reveal that the US exported approximately $649 billion worth of goods and services to the EU in 2024.
Conversely, the assertion that “they don’t buy our agricultural products” is also incorrect. Although the EU has some trade barriers that hinder US agricultural exports, the US Department of Agriculture reports that the EU imported $12.8 billion in US agricultural exports in 2024, making it the fourth-largest market for US agricultural products after Mexico, Canada, and China.
Moreover, while US automakers often face challenges gaining traction in the European market, Trump overstated the situation by claiming, “They take no cars.” According to a recent report from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, “164,857 US-made cars were exported to the EU in 2024,” valued at about $8.4 billion at current exchange rates. (Some of these vehicles are manufactured by European automakers at US-based plants.)
