AP fact-checks the debate
ROMNEY: “We have an enormous trade imbalance with China, and it’s worse this year than last year and it’s worse last year than the year before.”
THE FACTS: That’s true as far as it goes but the imbalance is far from unique to the Obama years. The U.S. has run a trade deficit with China since 1985 and the gap has widened nearly every year since. According to Chinese customs data, Beijing reported a $181.3 billion trade surplus with the United States in 2010. That grew to $202.3 billion last year. The surplus for the first nine months of this year was $161.9 billion, well ahead of the level at this point in 2011.
