HOT WIRE: Slowing Trade Dragging on US and Global Economies

Spotlight

Slowing Trade Dragging on US and Global Economies

When it comes to US trade, the general perception is that imports are all that matter. “The US doesn’t make anything anymore,” is a common refrain, or “We buy everything from China.” These common maxims are likely derived from the fact that the US runs a perpetual trade deficit.

However, this line of thinking is incorrect. US manufacturing is quite robust. Not only does the US create a tremendous number of products in-country, it also sell a tremendous number of those products overseas. For this reason, trade wars can cut both ways, potentially harming US exporters as much as they harm the targets of tariffs and trade barriers. While it is impossible to assign exact percentages, the global wave of protectionism headlined by the US-China trade conflict appears to be taking a toll.... [read more]

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