The Hill reports:
President Trump on Thursday insisted that the U.S. has a trade deficit with Canada after he reportedly acknowledged mentioning the deficit to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a meeting without knowing if it the claim was actually true.
Trump tweeted that the U.S. does “have a Trade Deficit with Canada” noting that the U.S. has a deficit “with almost all countries.”
According to the U.S. Trade Representative’s office, the U.S. runs a $24.6 billion services trade surplus with Canada and a $12.1 billion deficit on goods. That means that the U.S. ultimately runs a $12.5 billion goods and services trade surplus with Canada.
We do have a Trade Deficit with Canada, as we do with almost all countries (some of them massive). P.M. Justin Trudeau of Canada, a very good guy, doesn’t like saying that Canada has a Surplus vs. the U.S.(negotiating), but they do…they almost all do…and that’s how I know!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 15, 2018
Two false claims here. 1) Trump’s hand-picked Council of Economic Advisers, in its annual report released in February, noted that the U.S. has a surplus with Canada. 2) The U.S. has a trade surplus, even if you exclude services trade, with more than half of all trading partners. pic.twitter.com/u7yI1ujrWs
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) March 15, 2018
Trump said Trudeau told him there was no trade deficit. Trump said he replied, ‘Wrong, Justin, you do.’ However, the Office of the United States Trade Representative says the United States has a trade surplus with Canada.
https://t.co/OLN8355Jjf— Meg Kinnard (@MegKinnardAP) March 15, 2018