White House Budget Office: Trump Administration Halves Aid to China in 2020

The Trump administration has reduced aid to China by 50 percent in 2020, according to a new report from the White House budget office.

According to an exclusive report published by British media outlet The Spectator on Jan. 15, the Trump administration has cut aid to China by 52 percent over the past year, according to a new report from the White House Office of Management and Budget.

The report by the White House Office of Management and Budget provides a comprehensive picture of the U.S. government’s spending on aid to China. The Spectator reports that this is the first time the U.S. government has released such a report to the public. In a letter to Senator Scott (D-CA), Budget Office Director Russ Vout said, “I believe this report is critical because we are preventing American taxpayer dollars from being used to support America’s strategic adversaries.”

The report, released by the White House, shows a reduction in U.S. aid to China from $62 million in fiscal year 2019 to $30 million in fiscal year 2020. U.S. spending on strategic competition with China, meanwhile, jumped from $42.4 billion to $47.5 billion, a 12 percent increase. In addition, the U.S. has imposed $60 billion worth of tariffs on imported Chinese goods.

According to the report, several U.S. programs to aid China have been significantly scaled back or called off altogether. For example, in 2019, the Export-Import Bank of the United States provided $11 million in financing guarantees for Chinese deals. In contrast, in 2020, the agency did not provide any such services. In addition, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency ended its operations in China, cutting $2 million worth of investments in Chinese infrastructure projects.

A report in the Washington Free Beacon, a U.S. media outlet, said the comprehensive administration report, released as Trump enters the final days of his presidency, underscores the Trump administration’s tough economic policies toward China in an effort to thwart the Chinese Communist Party’s growing influence in the U.S. and global markets.