, Columnist
Trump's Tariffs Failed to Fix the Trade Deficit
We'll need a smarter approach, especially when it comes to China.
Americans just can’t stop buying stuff from China.
Photographer: AFP Contributor/AFP/Getty Images
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President Donald Trump was elected on a promise to reduce or eliminate the U.S. trade deficit. Instead, that deficit has risen to heights not seen since before the Great Recession. Reducing it will require a smarter approach than Trump’s failed tariff policies.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic struck, the U.S. trade deficit had increased under Trump from about $500 billion a year to about $575 billion. The deep recession caused by the pandemic should have reduced that imbalance. But the deficit hasn’t followed the normal pattern this time: