But this is the biggest deal anybody has ever seen.”— President Trump, at the signing of the initial trade deal with China on WednesdayFalse. When the United States reached a preliminary trade agreement with Mexico in 2018, President Trump inaccurately lauded it as the “maybe the largest trade deal ever made.” He used a similar description while signing the initial trade agreement with China on Wednesday. The deal also leaves in place tariffs on almost two-thirds of American imports from China, and more than half of Chinese imports from the United States. But for now, the China deal is smaller than even the United States-Mexico-Canada agreement. Trade between the United States and its two neighbors totaled $1.4 trillion in 2018, compared with $737 billion between the United States and China.

Source: International New York Times January 16, 2020 00:33 UTC