Trump can't find any US trade surpluses

[struggle4progress]

Jacob Pramuk | John W. Schoen
3 Hours Ago

President Donald Trump claimed Thursday that he cannot find a country with which the United States has a trade surplus.

The U.S., in fact, has a merchandise trade surplus with more than half of the countries in the world, according to the U.S. International Trade Commission. A trade surplus means America exports more goods to a country than it imports from it.

"The deals we have with other countries are unbelievably bad. We don't have any good deals," Trump told a group of business executives at the White House. "In fact, I'm trying to find a country where we actually have a surplus of trade as opposed to a deficit. Everything's a deficit" ...

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/23/trump-cant-find-any-us-trade-surpluses-here-you-go-mr-president.html

[sarah FAILIN]

1. He is a lying idiot.

People know, there just isn't a lot to say.

[jetcat]

2. This is part and parcel with Trump's "trade deficit" schtick --

and part and parcel with Trump's proposed alteration of the methodology for calculating trade deficits. It's appalling. One can only hope that reality-based economics holds sway.

[BeyondGeography]

3. That's why everyone's gaunt with hunger

Duh.

[Phoenix61]

4. He probably can't

He would have to know who to ask for the information then be able to understand what he was given.

[Wounded Bear]

5. I seriously doubt he even knows what that is...

[Mc Mike]

6. Yeah, but he couldn't find his barn-sized posterior

with both hands and roadmap.

[Demsrule86]

7. This is our Achilles heel. The trade deals are bad.

We have cars imported here by the millions from countries that use various means to refuse to take our cars in their countries. Things are made abroad , brought here and then sent somewhere else and counted in our GDP...We will never get anywhere defending trade policy. The problem is this is more complicated then Trump realizes and he can actually destroy America's remaining companies like autos if he forces them to lose money by allowing cheap imports while holding American companies to a different standard. And it is not just manufacturing either...accounting and office jobs...call centers... and don't get me started on HIB visas...I worked at Sprint in GA where two floors of American workers were fired so they could bring in cheaper workers from India. This was common...ask any tech worker... My friends at HP were forced to take enormous pay cuts and they laid off three Americans for every worker located in India...you name it and companies have been encouraged to ship jobs overseas...so we should acknowledge that his issue needs work and not bullshit platitudes from the Trump people who have no ideas to fix this and will only make it worse....a good Democratic trade policy rolled out before the mid-terms combined with real improvements in health coverage can only help us...and that can not include defending existing trade deals.

[former9thward]

8. 2016 U.S. Merchandise Trade Deficit: $734,316,300,000

The United States ran a merchandise trade deficit of $734,316,300,000 in 2016, according to data released today by the Census Bureau. During 2016, the U.S. imported $2,188,940,500,000 in goods but exported only $1,454,624,200,000.

The People’s Republic of China was the greatest contributor to the U.S. merchandise trade deficit for the year. The U.S bilateral merchandise trade deficit with China was $347,037,900,000. This deficit resulted from the U.S. importing $462,813,000,000 in goods from China while exporting only $115,775,100,00 in goods to China.

Japan was the second largest contributor to the U.S. merchandise trade deficit in 2016. The U.S. imported $132,201,800,000 in goods from Japan while exporting only $63,264,300,000—resulting in a deficit of $68,937,600,000.

Germany was the third largest contributor to the U.S. merchandise trade deficit. The U.S. imported $114,227,400,000 from Germany while exporting $49,362,000,000—resulting in a deficit of $64,865,400,000. Mexico was the fourth largest contributor to the U.S. merchandise trade deficit. The U.S. imported $294,151,000,000 from Mexico while exporting $230,959,100,000—resulting in a deficit of $63,191,900,000.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/terence-p-jeffrey/2016-us-merchandise-trade-deficit-734316300000



So 3/4 of a Trillion dollars. Yes, there are some some countries where the U.S. exports more than it imports but it is petty compared to our overall trade deficit.

[Vinca]

9. If his lips are moving he's lying.