What did Robert Lighthizer predict about the economy in December 2019?
Robert Lighthizer, U.S. Trade Representative ·
Keep in mind, by the second year, we will just about double exports of goods to China, if this- if this agreement is in place. Double exports. We had about 128 billion dollars in 2017. We're going to go up at least by a hundred, probably a little over one hundred.
2021: $151.4B vs. $228B+ promised
Lighthizer said the China deal would just about double U.S. goods exports there by the second year. In 2021 they were $151.4 billion, against $130.0 billion in 2017.
U.S. goods exports to China were $124.6 billion in 2020 and $151.4 billion in 2021, against $130.0 billion in 2017, far short of the roughly $228 billion-plus he described (Census Bureau).
Prediction vs. outcome · Economy
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The claim
- Date
- Where
- CBS's Face the Nation (taped Dec. 14, aired Dec. 15, 2019), describing the U.S.-China phase one trade deal.