US Pressing China to Cut Trade Surplus by $100 Billion: White House

A worker stands in a steel workshop in Zouping, in China's eastern Shandong Province on March 10, 2018. The U.S. recently imposed tariffs on aluminum and steel imports. AFP/Getty Images

WASHINGTON—The Trump administration is pressing China to cut its trade surplus with the United States by $100 billion, a White House spokeswoman said on March 14, clarifying a tweet last week from President Donald Trump.

Last Wednesday, Trump tweeted that China had been asked to develop a plan to reduce its trade imbalance with the United States by $1 billion, but the spokeswoman said Trump had meant to say $100 billion.

The United States had a record $375 billion trade deficit with China in 2017, which made up two thirds of a global $566 billion U.S. trade gap last year, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

China reported its 2017 U.S. trade surplus as $276 billion, also about two thirds of its reported global surplus of $422.5 billion.