Washington, Jul 16 (PTI) US President Donald Trump alleged on Monday that previous administrations allowed foreign countries to steal jobs and plunder its wealth.

"Today, American manufacturers are contributing USD 250 billion more to our economy than they contributed before this great election that took place in 2016," Trump said at the White House. "We're heeding the wisdom of our Founding Fathers by restoring our economic independence and reawakening our industrial might."

In his address to the "Made in America" event at the White House, Trump said: "They stole our wealth. They stole so much, and it was allowed to go on so long. But it's not going on any longer."

The president also pointed out to China's lowest level of GDP growth in nearly three decades.

"You take a look at what's happening. Look at today's front page in the Wall Street Journal. You'll see where China has had its worst year in 27 years," he said.

"I'm not looking for that. But we had a deal with China and they decided not to make that deal. They said, 'Let's renegotiate'. I said, 'No, thank you'. And we put very big tariffs on China," he added amidst applause from the audience.

The United States under him, Trump said, was taking the toughest-ever action to confront China's "chronic trade abuse".

"They were doing numbers on us for many years. I watched sleepy Joe Biden the other day talking about China: 'We would fight China on trade'.

"Well, he didn't do it for -- he's been there for like 45 years. And he didn't do it in eight years because they ate our lunch during the Obama administration," Trump said.

It was only recently that his Administration has started taking action against China.

Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping was a friend of his and the US will have good relations with the country.

"We're probably not quite as close now. But I have to be for our country. He's for China and I'm for the USA, and that's the way it's got to be," he said.

Trump said that the US had been losing an estimated USD 800 billion a year to China.

"They've done a great job. I'm not going to take it away. And I don't blame China. I blame our past presidents and our past leaders for allowing a situation like that to happen," he added. PTI

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