During both his first and second presidency, he repeatedly makes excessive and inaccurate statements about their commercial policy, especially in relation to them and the economy as a whole.
From his criticism of trade agreements to his claims on the consequences of taxes and external actors, many of his allegations proved to be misleading, according to many economists and analysts.
Donald Trump’s 10 most recent inaccurate claims
1. The role of duties in US financial prosperity in the 19th century
Trump claimed that in the late 19th century. Although the country had high duties then, economic prosperity was mainly due to the industrial revolution, the development of railways and the mass migration of cheap labor from many countries around the world.
2. Income Tax and Great Depression
Trump said yesterday: “In 1913, for reasons unknown to mankind, they established income tax so that citizens, and not foreign countries, would begin to pay the money necessary for the administration of our government. Then, in 1929, it all ended very abruptly with the Great Depression and would never have happened, if they had stayed in the policy of duties, it would be a very different story. “
According to, this claim is wrong. Income tax was intended to shift the burden on the richest Americans, as the cost of duties falls mainly to people with lower incomes. Income tax was also considered a more stable source of funding. In addition, historians attribute the great recession to the 1930 Smoot-Hawley duty, which exacerbated the financial crisis and triggered a world trade war.
3. Who pays for duties and their role in the US economy
Trump has repeatedly said they would be paid by Beijing itself and generating hundreds of billions of dollars in the US. In fact, duties are mainly burdened by American importers and consumers as they increase the prices of imported products. At the same time, while Trump claimed that the imposition of duties would reduce the US trade deficit, the deficit increased to record levels in 2018, when duties were also imposed on China, proving that duties did not have the desired result.
4. China ‘stole’ $ 500 billion a year from the US
Trump often claims that China “stole” $ 500 billion a year through a commercial deficit. Although the US has a trade deficit with China, the “theft” claim has no financial basis.
5. The role of duties in economic growth
Trump claimed that duties were the cause of US economic growth during the 19th century. However, this development was mainly due to other factors, such as the Industrial Revolution, Railways and Labor Power Migration.
6. The performance of the US economy under Trump
The former president claimed that the US economy was the best in the country’s history during his first term, thanks to imposing duties. Although the economy has actually developed, many factors, such as tax policy and global trends of the time, played a role in development.
7. America ‘is a poor country’
Trump said: “For years, American citizens who work hard have been forced to be on the sidelines as other nations became rich and powerful, to a large extent to us. But now it is our turn to prosper and in this way, to use trillions and trillions of dollars to reduce our taxes and pay our national debt. “
According to Washington Postthis is an exaggeration. Trump presented the United States as a poor country flooded with external forces. However, the US has the largest GDP in the world and their GDP per capita (about $ 90,000) is much higher than any other major country, such as China ($ 14,000), Germany ($ 58,000) and Japan ($ 36,000).
8. The US lost 5 million jobs and have a trade deficit of 19 trillion dollars due to NAFTA
Trump claimed that ‘5 million jobs were lost in manufacturing while commercial deficits were collected 19 trillion dollars. This [Συμφωνία Ελεύθερου Εμπορίου της Βόρειας Αμερικής] It was the worst trade agreement ever made. “
As the Washington Post comments, this is not due to NAFTA as the main factor in the decline in manufacturing was China’s entry into the World Trade Organization.
9. The NAFTA and the loss of 90,000 factories
Trump also stated yesterday that “Since the beginning of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), our country has lost 90,000 factories.”
OR Washington Post It challenges the claim for the 90,000 factories, a number derived from Business Dynamics Statistics of the Inventory Office, which has a tool analyzing the data. About one -third of manufacturing businesses employs four or fewer people and in fact cannot be considered factories. Manufacturing crafts with more than 500 people decreased from 4,535 to 2000 to 3,316 in 2022.
10. None of the US automakers are allowed to go to other countries
“Toyota sells 1 million foreign -made cars in the United States and General Motors sells almost no one. Ford sells very little. None of our companies are allowed to go to other countries, “Donald Trump said yesterday
This is another misleading statement. Market laws have played the main role in this image: American cars have taken them very badly to Japan because the Japanese prefer smaller models with more efficient fuel consumption. Also, in terms of the Chinese, by 2023, General Motors was selling more cars in China than in the US, but sales declined vertically because an intense preference for electric cars – a sector where GM lags.
