Does the Trade Deficit Matter?

Does the Trade Deficit Matter?
Shipping containers are organized at the Houston Port of Authority, in Houston on Feb. 10, 2025. Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Jeffrey A. Tucker
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Commentary

We need to talk about the trade deficit. President Donald Trump is desperate to reduce it and regards every splash of red in the charts as money owed to the United States as a nation. Others in the free trade camp say this is ridiculous and that there is nothing at all wrong with perpetual trade deficits. We should reduce tariffs to zero and forget about it.

Jeffrey A. Tucker
Jeffrey A. Tucker
Author
Jeffrey A. Tucker is the founder and president of the Brownstone Institute and the author of many thousands of articles in the scholarly and popular press, as well as 10 books in five languages, most recently “Liberty or Lockdown.” He is also the editor of “The Best of Ludwig von Mises.” He writes a daily column on economics for The Epoch Times and speaks widely on the topics of economics, technology, social philosophy, and culture. He can be reached at [email protected]