To give himself broad powers to set tariffs, President Donald Trump has declared a national economic emergency, claiming the United States has been mistreated by foreign countries that are happy to sell US consumers goods but put up trade barriers to make American-made goods unattractive and uncompetitive.
Courtesy 13WMAZ
America’s trade deficit means that the United States imported $1.2 trillion more goods than it exported in 2024 – a record. However, economists largely agree that the trade gap in goods doesn’t tell the whole story of America’s economic interactions with its trade partners. For example, the US has a surplus in services and last year, America exported $1.1 trillion worth of services, the highest on record.
The trade deficit is offset by exports of capital and financial accounts (US has a surplus), which include foreign asset transactions and international debt forgiveness.
Nevertheless, Trump has attempted to use tariffs to rebuild America’s manufacturing prowess.