|
BEIJING, Feb. 26-- The U.S. government's record 4.8-trillion-U.S.-dollar budget for the 2021 fiscal year, which continues the spending priorities in recent years, has revealed the administration's favor for more defense spending and decreased funding for health programs. The new budget includes a 2-trillion-dollar slash to safety net and food programs, as well as student loan initiatives, and a continued rise in defense expenditure and funds to build a border wall targeting illegal immigrants. The new budget also requests maintained or increased funding for trade enforcement agencies such as the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, which leads trade negotiations with other countries. Analysts pointed out that U.S. trade focuses range from implementation of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and the phase-one deal with China, to the first stage of the U.S.-Japan trade agreement, and plans to seek new agreements with the European Union, Britain and Kenya. The Trump administration wishes to boost trade with other countries, as they believe that the more expanded the overseas market is, the more additional job opportunities can be created at home, the analysts said. The budget also includes a significant increase in research spending for artificial intelligence and quantum information science in the new fiscal year, and proposes doubling the amount of non-defense R&D spending in those areas by the fiscal year 2022. | 
