In Blow to Trump, America’s Trade Deficit in Goods Hits Record $891 Billion

[bubbabgone]

The left will always find something negative to complain about but as you have noticed they never offer solutions to any of their perceived problem issues. As the article stated and you aptly pointed out the American economy is booming, people have more spendable income and are purchasing more goods and services from overseas. Apparently the left would rather see the economy tank thus reducing the trade deficit because people would have less spendable income.

Along those lines, I haven't seen any new threads about Feb job growth yet but the Drudge headline story cries out for someone's attention. Drudge yelled FEB JOBS MISS BIG
It's true, Feb jobs growth was pathetic but the story at the link showed every other economic indicator was strong and job growth numbers for prior months were revised up.
So like most things, what you see depends on where you stand.

 

[Conservative]

Along those lines, I haven't seen any new threads about Feb job growth yet but the Drudge headline story cries out for someone's attention. Drudge yelled FEB JOBS MISS BIG
It's true, Feb jobs growth was pathetic but the story at the link showed every other economic indicator was strong and job growth numbers for prior months were revised up.
So like most things, what you see depends on where you stand.

Exactly!! The job growth was meager but the total is what matters, PLUS 5 Million jobs since Trump took office. The last three months are adjusted due to the Gov't shutdown as was announced when the January numbers were released. To me the 4.3 million part time for economic reasons is quite significant meaning that full time jobs are being created. In addition the context shows economic strength as jobs are being created in high wage industries not the service sector as has been done in the past although there is growth in those areas as well.

The left never wants to celebrate success but you right the headlines are what the left reports not the context of the results

 

[BahamaBob]

You have to love it when someone quotes Paul Krugman. The only person who has made more stupid statements than Krugman is Al Gore.

Second, the tariffs have had a real effect on China. They have seriously damaged their economy. The reason being, they have had to eat the tariffs rather than pass them along. The reason for that is the trinkets they are selling can be easily manufactured elsewhere for the same costs. They are also not things that are necessities of life. They know if they try to raise the price to the American customer the customer will either go somewhere else and buy it or simply not purchase it. The food stuffs and energy that the US sells China on the other hand are not things the Chinese can live without or purchase cheaper elsewhere.

Trade deficits will be hard to reduce because so much manufacturing has left the US. Trump has done much to bring it back but there is a long way to go to right the ship.

As someone who worked in the manufacturing industry for decades, I see many misconceptions and know the real problems. The biggest misconception is that Americans can not compete in the labor market. This is false. The truth is that the labor required in most products is so small that the additional transportation required for foreign built products more than cover that. The real problem is the cost of EPA standards. I am a strong believer in strong EPA standards but they need to be enforced globally. In the US there are strong and costly regulation on how hazardous materials can be handled and disposed of. In countries like China and India, they are applied in the cheapest manner possible and disposed of by dumping the waste in a dump or a river. This is why we are seeing islands of garbage floating in our oceans and Asian rivers devoid of any living creature. I would like to see the American consumer refuse to buy any product that is not produced using our EPA standards.

 

[MTAtech]

You have to love it when someone quotes Paul Krugman. The only person who has made more stupid statements than Krugman is Al Gore.

Second, the tariffs have had a real effect on China. They have seriously damaged their economy. The reason being, they have had to eat the tariffs rather than pass them along. The reason for that is the trinkets they are selling can be easily manufactured elsewhere for the same costs. They are also not things that are necessities of life. They know if they try to raise the price to the American customer the customer will either go somewhere else and buy it or simply not purchase it. The food stuffs and energy that the US sells China on the other hand are not things the Chinese can live without or purchase cheaper elsewhere.

Trade deficits will be hard to reduce because so much manufacturing has left the US. Trump has done much to bring it back but there is a long way to go to right the ship.

As someone who worked in the manufacturing industry for decades, I see many misconceptions and know the real problems. The biggest misconception is that Americans can not compete in the labor market. This is false. The truth is that the labor required in most products is so small that the additional transportation required for foreign built products more than cover that. The real problem is the cost of EPA standards. I am a strong believer in strong EPA standards but they need to be enforced globally. In the US there are strong and costly regulation on how hazardous materials can be handled and disposed of. In countries like China and India, they are applied in the cheapest manner possible and disposed of by dumping the waste in a dump or a river. This is why we are seeing islands of garbage floating in our oceans and Asian rivers devoid of any living creature. I would like to see the American consumer refuse to buy any product that is not produced using our EPA standards.

Oh, what stupid statements has Krugman made? He called the housing bubble; he said monetary and fiscal stimulus wouldn’t hurt the economy when conservatives were saying it would cause high interest rates, hyperinflation and devalue the dollar. They got it 100% wrong and Krugman got it 100% right.

 

[BahamaBob]

Oh, what stupid statements has Krugman made? He called the housing bubble; he said monetary and fiscal stimulus wouldn’t hurt the economy when conservatives were saying it would cause high interest rates, hyperinflation and devalue the dollar. They got it 100% wrong and Krugman got it 100% right.

Here are a few and these don't even mention the economic collapse he predicted "happening within months of Trump taking office".
Is Paul Krugman Leaving Princeton In Quiet Disgrace?

 

[Kushinator]

Trump said we have a trade deficit problem.

WTF is a trade deficit problem?

We do.

We do not. If ANYTHING, you might be able to argue we have a savings problem.

 

[Kushinator]

Here are a few and these don't even mention the economic collapse he predicted "happening within months of Trump taking office".
Is Paul Krugman Leaving Princeton In Quiet Disgrace?

Trump claimed he would eliminate federal debt, balance the budget, start trade wars, erect walls, etc..... The only thing that's actually happened is a trade war.

Now.

Had Trump pushed a policy agenda that dealt with all of the instances above, it would have completely collapsed the economy. There isn't a reason to argue against this premise.

 

[Casper]

Trade negotiations are still ongoing. Lets not judge until we see how this ends up. Something had to change and Trump is tackling it head on. If they end up with a great deal Trump may end up being the greatest President of all time.

We shall see, if it goes badly will you say anything. No, he will never go down as greatest, well not President, but other titles might fit.

 

[chuckiechan]

In Blow to Trump, America’s Trade Deficit in Goods Hits Record $891 Billion




Donald Whatshisname said "trade wars are good and easy to win." This is what Trump said about how he was going to decrease the trade deficit:



According to the Times article:



This is what happens when a leader institutes bad policies without thinking them through.

Then you tell me how to get Americans and American companies to buy American.

 

[MTAtech]

Then you tell me how to get Americans and American companies to buy American.

We already do. 80% of what Americans spend is buying something from other Americans. Want to reduce the trade deficit -- increase the savings rate.

But then ask the question: with sub-4% unemployment, what's the obsession with buying American? Isn't it better to have foreigners buy our stuff while we buy their stuff?

 

[MTAtech]

Here are a few and these don't even mention the economic collapse he predicted "happening within months of Trump taking office".
Is Paul Krugman Leaving Princeton In Quiet Disgrace?

You use an opinion piece by Ralph Benko? Let me know when Ralph wins a Nobel Prize, like Paul Krugman.

 

[BahamaBob]

Trump claimed he would eliminate federal debt, balance the budget, start trade wars, erect walls, etc..... The only thing that's actually happened is a trade war.

Now.

Had Trump pushed a policy agenda that dealt with all of the instances above, it would have completely collapsed the economy. There isn't a reason to argue against this premise.

I see you have a problem with the truth. Trump never said he would eliminate federal debt. However, we are finally on a firm tract to recovery. Something the previous president could not accomplish. All he could accomplish is saving us $2,500 on our health insurance. That worked out well didn't it. How did you spend all your savings?

This is the same Krugman who said 1.5% GDP is the new normal, 3% is impossible to achieve. Yet the unthinking lemmings still sing his praise.

 

[Kushinator]

Trump never said he would eliminate federal debt.

Sure he did, right here:

However, we are finally on a firm tract to recovery.

Finally? :lamo

We are still riding a trend that began 9 years ago.

This is the same Krugman who said 1.5% GDP is the new normal, 3% is impossible to achieve. Yet the unthinking lemmings still sing his praise.

Even with a massive stimulus package with historic low unemployment, 3% calendar year growth wasn't achieved. Trump has let you down... not me.

 

[code1211]

WTF is a trade deficit problem?



We do not. If ANYTHING, you might be able to argue we have a savings problem.

I'm not sure what savings you are talking about. Personal savings?

As far as the trade deficit, it is a clumsy reference to the unfavorable balance of trade suffered by the US. It's bad and getting worse.

On the bright side of things, this also indicates that Americans have more to spend and are spending it.

United States Balance of Trade | 2019 | Data | Chart | Calendar | Forecast

 

[SMTA]

View attachment 67252090

That is hilarious!
Nicely done.

 

[chuckiechan]

We already do. 80% of what Americans spend is buying something from other Americans. Want to reduce the trade deficit -- increase the savings rate.

But then ask the question: with sub-4% unemployment, what's the obsession with buying American? Isn't it better to have foreigners buy our stuff while we buy their stuff?

I agree, but the debt is not Trump's. It's the American people not willing to pay extra for a similar item made in the USA, but costs more. (quality not withstanding). "Buying from other Americans" is the same as buying Chinese tools from Harbor Freight - an American company. Americans will step over their grandmothers body to save a nickle.

What is the end game if noting changes and the imports keep getting bigger and bigger and bigger?

 

[MTAtech]

I agree, but the debt is not Trump's. It's the American people not willing to pay extra for a similar item made in the USA, but costs more. (quality not withstanding). "Buying from other Americans" is the same as buying Chinese tools from Harbor Freight - an American company. Americans will step over their grandmothers body to save a nickle.

What is the end game if noting changes and the imports keep getting bigger and bigger and bigger?

You did hit on something worthy of discussion. What exactly is "Made in the USA?" A Boeing 737 is made up of 367,000 parts, supplied by hundreds of suppliers, many of which are made by foreign companies. The same thing for autos. Likewise, foreign finished products have American components. Fortunately, economists don't think this is a problem. It's just the global supply chain at work. If we want capitalism, we can't restrict companies from finding their own sources of parts and materials.

If we want to address trade deficits (which aren't really a problem) we have to recognize that the trade deficit is equal to the excess of national investment over national savings.

Let's take a simple example, suppose that we all reduce our consumption and save more, by an amount equal to 1% of GDP (~$195 billion annually). This would reduce demand in the economy by $195 billion. Normally, this fall in demand would lead to a drop in interest rates, which would in turn spur additional investment. Lower interest rates should also lead to a lower valued dollar (fewer people want to hold dollar denominated assets at a lower interest rate). The lower valued dollar would lead to more exports (our goods are now cheaper to foreigners) and fewer imports (foreign goods are now relatively more expensive than domestically produced goods).

In this example, the end result is that we have the same level of output with higher levels of investment and net exports replacing the lost consumption. We have a somewhat higher level of national savings (the increased investment partially offset the rise in savings) and a lower trade deficit.

So, if the desired result is merely a lower trade deficit, we just need to save more. The question then becomes is lowering the trade deficit a goal on its own and is it worth disrupting the supply chain for thousands of manufacturers?

 

[Tbird19482]

I get it you Libs and of course your liberal media hates Trump. You beg for failure, of course you're used to it being an Oamamfail supporter for 8 yrs. You hate the fact that Trump is trying to balance out our trade imbalance, you have no problem with that. And Obamafail never did anything to better our trade imbalance, so Trump should not either. Then we have China stealing our intellectual capital that Obamafail did nothing to stop China. To you Trump should not do anything either, just let China keep on stealing. Christ this is just like Obamafail did nothing to pull in NK from making Nuks, Obamafail said let NK make all the Nuks they want. So Trump should do the same thing, just sit back and do nothing like Obamafail. Hell Obamafail could not even enforce his own RED LINE, Trump had to do that for him.

hope for failure like the Republicans did when Obama took office?
Remember when they promised to do everything they could to make Obama a one term President?
or when he was re-elected to do everything they could to obstruct him and make him look as bad as Bush was?
have a nice day

 

[Born Free]

Re: In Blow to Trump, America’s Trade Deficit in Goods Hits Record $891 Billion

hope for failure like the Republicans did when Obama took office?
Remember when they promised to do everything they could to make Obama a one term President?

As they should, Obama was the worst president ever, here is a sample.

Obamafail’s Stupidly,
*
Putin told Obamafail to stay out of Crimea and he said yes sir. Stupidity
*
Putin told Obamafail to NOT sell arms to Ukrainian and he said yes sir. Stupidity
*
Putin told Obamafail to NOT put our missile defense shield in NATO, he again says yes sir. Stupidity
*
Obamafail yells out his RED LINE to Syria to never use WMD’s on its people again, Yet Syria walked all over Obamafail’s RED LINE. Putin told Obamafail to stay out and Obamafail says Yes Sir. What a ****ing dumbass coward.
*
Obamafail asked Putin of all people to certify that all of Syria’s WMD were taking out of Syria and Putin lied to Obamafail. Stupidity
*
Obamafail told Russia that once he is reelected he can be more flexible to what Putin wants. How stupid was that. Obamafail loved Putin and did whatever Putin wanted. Watch the video. Stupidity
*
video of Obama telling russia he can be more flexable - Yahoo Video Search Results
*
Obamafail was in office and what did he do to shut down NK’s nuclear program. Absolutely nothing. Obamafail was a stupid coward.
*
Obamafail cuts a deal with Iran to delay the making of nukes for 10 yrs and the agreement does not have inspections anywhere anytime. Not only that, no one can inspect any of Iran’s military bases.
*
Further Obamafail flies into Iran in the middle of the night billions in cash to Iran (which was a demand by Iran) so that they could fund their terrorist groups without the cash being traced. Stupidity
*
Obamafail pulls out of Iraq and leaves ISIS to materialize and when they do he calls them the JV Team. However that JV Team was not JV at all, making Obamafail to go back into Iraq to try to eradicate ISIS by tying the hands of our military. Thus he could not eradicate ISIS. Stupidity
*
Obamafail, the then national security adviser Susan Rice claims that Bergdahl served with "honor and distinction." Of which Obamafail trades five terrorist from Clubgetmo to release a trader to this country. Further Obamafail holds a bizarre White House Rose Garden ceremony with Bergdahl's parents. Stupidity.
*
Obamafail bombs the crap out of Lybia and walks away. And in doing so the resistance builds and raids our embassy killing four of our own. And Obamafail goes around calling it a protest of some stupid video. How stupid can this dumbass be?
*
Obamafail borrows and spends 10 trillion doubling our national and has the crown of borrowing more than all the president before him combined. And what did we get, the worst economic recovery in US History. Stupidity
*
Obamafail gives Solyndra 400 million of tax payer money to make solar panels, the company goes broke. Stupidity
*
Obamafail bails out GM with taxpayer money that we lost 11.2 billion on the deal. Stupidity The U.S. Government Lost $11.2 Billion Bailing Out GM | HuffPost
*
Obamafail campaigned on closing Clubgetmo and guess what it’s still in use. Stupidity
*
Obamafail’s signature so called achievement was Obamacare that he promised you can keep your Dr., you can keep your insurance, and you’ll save $2,500 per yr per family on your health insurance. Guess what Obamacare was a complete failure. Stupidity YouTube
*
Obamafail’s rollout of Obamacare was the worst in US History, and he had to continue to write executive orders to push out dates of different parts of Obamacare so that it would not crash under his term in office. Not one Republican voted for Obamafails signature failure. Stupidity
*
Obamafail locked up Utah’s land for a park but that got overturned by Trump. How stupid was that????
Obama claims another 1.6 million Western acres as national monuments - Washington Times
*
Obamafail, did what to get NATO to get them to pay their fair share which is 2% of their GDP, but none of them were paying up except the US paying our share and subsidizing them. Stupidity
*
Obamafail buys his allies, Stupidity
*

Obamafail killed the Keystone pipeline, why? Because he thought the pipeline would be safer and less expensive, can’t have that so he killed it. Stupidity
*
What did Obamafail do against China for stealing our intellectual capital? And China ripping us off on trade. He did not do a ****ing thing, what a stupid coward he was?
*
What did Obamafail do to kill NAFTA that was ripping off our country? And renegotiate NAFTA for a better deal. He did nothing. What a stupid coward he was?
*
I could go on and on but no use.
*
I would say Harvard didn’t teach him a ****ing thing.

 

[jaeger19]

Haven't been paying attention have you? This is ridiculous, you have a better option than Trump?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

'''



Very much paying attention. I am one of those farmers that is getting hurt by trumps trade war.

Better option than trump? Just about anyone that ran in the republican primary.

 

[jaeger19]

Re: In Blow to Trump, America’s Trade Deficit in Goods Hits Record $891 Billion

As they should, Obama was the worst president ever, here is a sample.

Obamafail’s Stupidly,
*
Putin told Obamafail to stay out of Crimea and he said yes sir. Stupidity
*
Putin told Obamafail to NOT sell arms to Ukrainian and he said yes sir. Stupidity
*
Putin told Obamafail to NOT put our missile defense shield in NATO, he again says yes sir. Stupidity
*
Obamafail yells out his RED LINE to Syria to never use WMD’s on its people again, Yet Syria walked all over Obamafail’s RED LINE. Putin told Obamafail to stay out and Obamafail says Yes Sir. What a ****ing dumbass coward.
*
Obamafail asked Putin of all people to certify that all of Syria’s WMD were taking out of Syria and Putin lied to Obamafail. Stupidity
*
*
Obamafail’s signature so called achievement was Obamacare that he promised you can keep your Dr., you can keep your insurance, and you’ll save $2,500 per yr per family on your health insurance. Guess what Obamacare was a complete failure. Stupidity YouTube
*
Obamafail’s rollout of Obamacare was the worst in US History, and he had to continue to write executive orders to push out dates of different parts of Obamacare so that it would not crash under his term in office. Not one Republican voted for Obamafails signature failure. Stupidity
*
Obamafail locked up Utah’s land for a park but that got overturned by Trump. How stupid was that????
Obama claims another 1.6 million Western acres as national monuments - Washington Times
*
Obamafail, did what to get NATO to get them to pay their fair share which is 2% of their GDP, but none of them were paying up except the US paying our share and subsidizing them. Stupidity
*
Obamafail buys his allies, Stupidity
*

Obamafail killed the Keystone pipeline, why? Because he thought the pipeline would be safer and less expensive, can’t have that so he killed it. Stupidity
*
What did Obamafail do against China for stealing our intellectual capital? And China ripping us off on trade. He did not do a ****ing thing, what a stupid coward he was?
*
What did Obamafail do to kill NAFTA that was ripping off our country? And renegotiate NAFTA for a better deal. He did nothing. What a stupid coward he was?
*
I could go on and on but no use.
*
I would say Harvard didn’t teach him a ****ing thing.

Yawn.... when do you so called conservatives... start holding the current government responsible instead of excusing the current government because of the past presidents?

Sheesh...

As a conservative.. and actual conservative.... I get tired of folks calling themselves conservatives whose idea of "small government"....is "well.. well.. look what Obama did"...as an excuse for government overreach.

 

[Obscurity]

Trade negotiations are still ongoing. Lets not judge until we see how this ends up. Something had to change and Trump is tackling it head on. If they end up with a great deal Trump may end up being the greatest President of all time.

Nonsense. You guys beat the drum about the deficit for 8 years under obama and now the faux news brigade doesn't even mention it. And if someone like Shep Smith does, well, he's not a real conservative.

 

[Conservative]

'''



Very much paying attention. I am one of those farmers that is getting hurt by trumps trade war.

Better option than trump? Just about anyone that ran in the republican primary.

so you are one of those selfish liberals that if it hurts you and benefits others it is poor policy? Anyone else that ran in the Republican Primary didn't get the nomination. we had a choice, Hillary or Trump, I chose wisely and am not whining and complaining about the results like you. Is Trump better than Hillary? YOU BETCHA!

 

[Conservative]

Re: In Blow to Trump, America’s Trade Deficit in Goods Hits Record $891 Billion

Yawn.... when do you so called conservatives... start holding the current government responsible instead of excusing the current government because of the past presidents?

Sheesh...

As a conservative.. and actual conservative.... I get tired of folks calling themselves conservatives whose idea of "small government"....is "well.. well.. look what Obama did"...as an excuse for government overreach.

So what do you want us to do about it NOW?? Whining and complaining about the issue now is doing nothing but playing into the hands of the radical left who loves chaos and constant complaints

 

[jaeger19]

so you are one of those selfish liberals that if it hurts you and benefits others it is poor policy? Anyone else that ran in the Republican Primary didn't get the nomination. we had a choice, Hillary or Trump, I chose wisely and am not whining and complaining about the results like you. Is Trump better than Hillary? YOU BETCHA!

Hmmm..as we just determined.. the trade war is not benefiting anyone in the US... now.. those countries that are NOW supplying into what used to be supplied by the US? They are benefitting.'

Anyone else that ran in the Republican Primary didn't get the nomination.

That's right.. and neither did the democrat candidate... so your question has no validity.

We can only deal with the president that we have.. and right now.... its obvious that the trade war has only hurt americans.. and has NOT reduced the trade deficit.. which is the reason that Trump claimed he was doing the trade war in the first place.