File Photo.
Washington: US President Donald Trump has signed two executive orders aiming at combating foreign trade abuses that contribute to the US half-trillion-dollar trade deficit..
Trump's executive orders initiate a large-scale review of the causes of the US trade deficits with some of its largest trading partners and order stricter enforcement of US anti-dumping laws to prevent foreign manufacturers from undercutting US companies by selling goods at an unfair price.
The orders marked Trump's latest attempt to follow through on his campaign rhetoric decrying other countries for taking advantage of the US trade policies.
Vowing that the "theft of American prosperity will end," Trump said Friday that his administration "will take necessary and lawful action" to end trade abuses.
"Thousands of factories have been stolen from our country," he said, vowing to create a "level playing field" for US workers.
Briefing reporters at the White House on Thursday, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Director of the National Trade Council Peter Navarro said that both executive orders would tackle the sources of the US trade deficit with China, which Trump argues has led to the loss of millions of US jobs and the decline of US manufacturing.
"These actions are designed to let the world know that this is another step in the president fulfilling his campaign promise to (tackle trade abuses)," Ross said.
Both Ross and Navarro pointed to steel dumping as an issue affecting the US trade deficit. China is a primary source of steel dumping in the US, which has disrupted the domestic market for steel and hurt US steel manufacturers.
Navarro also noted that China accounts for about one-third of anti-dumping cases.
