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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump persists in using a phony number to justify his market-shaking trade actions against China. TRUMP tweets Wednesday: — “We are not in a trade war with China, that war was lost many years ago by the foolish, or incompetent, people who represented the U.S. Now we have a Trade Deficit of $500 Billion a year, with Intellectual Property Theft of another $300 Billion. We cannot let this continue!” — “When you’re already $500 Billion DOWN, you can’t lose!” THE FACTS: He overstates the trade deficit by $163 billion. He does this by counting Americans’ purchases of goods from China as a loss for the U.S., while ignoring what China buys from the U.S. He also ignores another big part of the equation — trade in services. Last year, Americans bought about $505.6 billion in goods from China while China bought about $130.4 billion in goods from the U.S. So the actual trade deficit in goods was … [Read more...] about AP FACT CHECK: Trump fights trade dispute with phony number

By HOPE YEN and EMILY SWANSON AP, 6:34 AM WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is pointing to a 50 percent job approval rating that may not fully comport with reality. TRUMP: “Thank you to Rasmussen for the honest polling. Just hit 50 percent, which is higher than Cheatin’ Obama at the same time in his Administration.” — tweet Tuesday. THE FACTS: Trump cites an approval rating that doesn’t jibe with other polls. The daily tracking poll from Rasmussen Reports released Monday finds half of likely voters said they approve of Trump’s performance in office. That’s 4 points higher than what President Barack Obama scored on the same poll on April 2, 2010. But Rasmussen stands alone among frequent pollsters in finding such a high rating for Trump, and its findings are often seen as less reliable because of the automated calling method it uses. It’s against federal law to have computers dial cellphones, so a big chunk of U.S. adults … [Read more...] about AP FACT CHECK: Trump cites questionable job approval rating

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States and China, the world’s two largest economies, have roiled financial markets and fueled fears of a protracted trade war by threatening tariffs this week on each other’s goods. The United States on Tuesday said it would impose 25 percent duties on $50 billion of imports from China, and China quickly retaliated by listing $50 billion of products that it could hit with its own 25 percent tariffs. Earlier in the week, Beijing announced separate import duties on $3 billion of U.S. goods in response to the Trump administration’s duties on all steel and aluminum imports, including from China. U.S. officials sought to downplay the threat of a broader trade dispute, saying a negotiated outcome is still possible. Even so, economists warned that the tit-for-tat moves bear the hallmarks of a classic trade rift that could escalate. “The seeds of a more serious conflict are there,” said Adam Slater, lead economist at Oxford … [Read more...] about AP News Guide: What’s behind the US-China trade fight