AP FACT CHECK: US-China trade deal is big, but not that big

WASHINGTON – An AP Fact Check finds that the new American trade deal with China isn’t as ground-breaking at the Trump administration would like to believe.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says the trade plan involving American beef, cooked Chinese poultry and liquefied natural gas exports is historic. As he puts it, “more than has been done in the whole history of U.S.-China relations on trade.”

But that pronouncement overlooks the opening of China by President Richard Nixon in 1972 and China’s entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001.

The agreement largely focuses on agricultural goods, energy and financial products. Trade experts have been quick to point out that it does nothing for U.S. manufacturers, long a source of tension in the relationship with China.

EDITOR’S NOTE _ A look at the veracity of claims by political figures