President Donald Trump took aim at several of his predecessors’ records on trade relationships with foreign nations in a Wednesday morning tweet.
From Bush 1 to present, our Country has lost more than 55,000 factories, 6,000,000 manufacturing jobs and accumulated Trade Deficits of more than 12 Trillion Dollars. Last year we had a Trade Deficit of almost 800 Billion Dollars. Bad Policies & Leadership. Must WIN again! #MAGA
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 7, 2018
Trump’s tweet comes as he moves closer to implementing tariffs on steel and aluminium he announced Thursday at the White House. The 25% and 10% tariffs respectively have been widely criticized by economists and the financial industry, though they align closely with several of Trump’s promises on the 2016 presidential campaign.
The President believes firmly the U.S. trade relationship is not satisfactory and that it was not a proper focus of previous presidents. “We have a trade deficit of $800 billion a year, and that’s not going to happen with me. We have been mistreated by many, sometimes fairly, but there are, really, very few instances where that’s taken place,” he said Tuesday, adding “I don’t blame the countries. I blame our leadership for allowing it to happen.”