Manufacturing group criticizes Trump administration about trade deficit

While one manufacturing trade association has been largely supportive of President Donald Trump’s administration, another, the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) has found little to support.

AAM recently pushed back against the President’s messaging of promises kept by pointing out the U.S. trade deficit — something candidate Trump promised to slash — has reached a new high since he took office, growing to $48.7 billion in October, according to the latest Commerce Department data.

October marks the highest deficit under the Trump presidency with the U.S.-China deficit increasing by $2.1 billion to $31 billion in October.

In a Dec. 5 statement, AAM President Scott Paul said that while “President Trump likes breaking records … this isn’t one he should be proud of.”

“The president has missed multiple opportunities to put a dent in the trade deficit by holding China accountable for its murky trade practices. Instead, his attention has been diverted elsewhere while he pulls back on key promises to the working class like taking action on out-of-control steel imports,” Paul said.

While the administration has spoken of investigations, those alone “don’t equate meaningful action, and the growing trade deficit demonstrates this.”

Paul continued: “Talk is cheap, and until Trump stands up to China’s predatory trade practices, American factory jobs will continue to be at risk.”

This is not the first time the organization has taken aim at President Trump. Last month, the organization criticized Trump’s 12-day long trip to Asia, noting that he “failed factory workers” for making “no tangible progress in reducing China’s mammoth industrial overcapacity in sectors such as steel, aluminum, and semiconductors.”