HomeWorldEconomyHard to believe that 30 years ago, the US had trade surplus! This year, U.S. trade deficit will be whopping $1.3 trillion. How to reverse de-industrialization?
Hard to believe that 30 years ago, the US had trade surplus! This year, U.S. trade deficit will be whopping $1.3 trillion. How to reverse de-industrialization?
October 29, 2024
Hard to believe that 30 years ago, the US had trade surplus! This year, U.S. trade deficit will be whopping $1.3 trillion. How to reverse de-industrialization?
I would imagine a lot of it is likely oil. In which case I would suggest investing in programs that produce energy within the borders.
Seeing how the US would never ever produce enough oil for its booming demand, I would further suggest renewables and EV’s.
Which really offends some folks who will tell me that solar arrays, batteries and such are generally made overseas. Then I’d bring up manufacturing them here, which are steps made with the CHIPS and Infrastructure bills (no thanks to Republicans).
Would it eliminate the trade deficit? Likely not. But it’d benefit the US in many ways.
You… don’t? Printing $1 trillion every 90 days seems to be working out fine. Just do that forever, I reckon.
We like cheap shit from Asian countries. If you ever think Americans are going to work in a shop and make USB and charging cords for $4.00 hour, good luck with that.
Us trade surplus = good
China trade surplus = bad
The US has not had a positive trade balance since 1975 so 50 years not 30. It went negative shortly after the dollar became free-floating. It’s an irreconcilable consequence of the dollar’s status as both national and global reserve currency, as predicted by Triffin.
Why? The US is an affluent country that can afford to import. Plus it’s apples and oranges – poor, industrial nations produce goods for pennies on the dollar; this chart doesn’t show what the equivalent cost in US production would be, consumers are saving far more than the trade discrepancy.
Smart tariffs.
Non issue imho our economy grows more despite this fact almost in spite of this fact. I don’t want to go back to a world where the US is the only major industrialized nation and cannot imagine the repercussions of actually directing our economy this way.
Everyone wants U.S. dollars because it is the world reserve currency. And before you reach the disadvantages section and talk about how Foreign Investors are going to own everything in the U.S. here are some numbers.
Foreign investors own: 3.1% of all privately owned land. Most of this is Canada, Netherlands, Italy, UK, and Germany 22.9% of the national debt. Japan, owns the most, China and UK a close 2nd and 3rd 27% of Corporate debt 17% of Equities 2-3% of homes
It’s virtually impossible for the United States to get to a positive trade deficit due to the demand for U.S. dollars. Goods flow into the U.S. because people want U.S. dollars to invest in the United States, so the money a lot of times comes back to the U.S. Still we aren’t owned by anyone. The vast majority of assets are still owned by Americans. And that will continue to be the case.
Why does it matter? We are spending more on exports than on imports. So what? I feel like it is natural that this will happen when you have a very wealthy country that makes a huge amount of money off of things not considered to be exports. Correct me if I’m wrong but it seems to me that the costs of imports and exports isn’t that meaningful when the country we are talking about makes a huge portion of its money from investments and stuff like that which aren’t considered exports. We make money off of international businesses that we run. We then spend that money on imports and inflate the amount spent on imports compared to exports. What’s the problem with this? Saying we import more than we export means nothing when so many Americans work in business which has nothing to do with imports/exports. We basically export a lot of services and investment which aren’t actual physical exports which is why we have a trade deficit. I don’t see a problem with this.
I don’t understand why so many people are going crazy over how the US doesn’t do as much manufacturings. We don’t do it because it’s cheaper to have others do it and then import it. Meanwhile we instead export a lot of services/investment because we have a lot of education/capital due to us being a very wealthy nation. We run/own international and foreign businesses which bring a lot of money. It is economically more efficient for us to just do this. Exports and imports are not the same thing as total cash inflows and outflows.
“The most beautiful word in the human language, tariffs” DJT
Reinvestment in industrialization IS happening and it’s happening at a rate that hasn’t been seen in over 30 years.
I don’t know why it’s not bigger news, but policies like the CHIPS Act and Inflation Reduction Act have caused absolutely massive investments into industrial facilities. This should be celebrated but I never see it being talked about in the mainstream media.
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I would imagine a lot of it is likely oil. In which case I would suggest investing in programs that produce energy within the borders.
Seeing how the US would never ever produce enough oil for its booming demand, I would further suggest renewables and EV’s.
Which really offends some folks who will tell me that solar arrays, batteries and such are generally made overseas. Then I’d bring up manufacturing them here, which are steps made with the CHIPS and Infrastructure bills (no thanks to Republicans).
Would it eliminate the trade deficit? Likely not. But it’d benefit the US in many ways.
You… don’t? Printing $1 trillion every 90 days seems to be working out fine. Just do that forever, I reckon.
We like cheap shit from Asian countries. If you ever think Americans are going to work in a shop and make USB and charging cords for $4.00 hour, good luck with that.
Us trade surplus = good
China trade surplus = bad
The US has not had a positive trade balance since 1975 so 50 years not 30. It went negative shortly after the dollar became free-floating. It’s an irreconcilable consequence of the dollar’s status as both national and global reserve currency, as predicted by Triffin.
Why? The US is an affluent country that can afford to import. Plus it’s apples and oranges – poor, industrial nations produce goods for pennies on the dollar; this chart doesn’t show what the equivalent cost in US production would be, consumers are saving far more than the trade discrepancy.
Smart tariffs.
Non issue imho our economy grows more despite this fact almost in spite of this fact. I don’t want to go back to a world where the US is the only major industrialized nation and cannot imagine the repercussions of actually directing our economy this way.
Why can’t people do a 5 minute google search?
From [https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/trade_deficit.asp](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/trade_deficit.asp)
“Trade deficits can also occur because a country is a highly desirable destination for foreign investment. For example, the [U.S. dollar’s status](https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/061515/what-happens-us-dollar-during-trade-deficit.asp) as the world’s reserve currency creates a strong demand for U.S. dollars. Foreigners must sell goods to Americans to obtain dollars. The stability of developed countries generally attracts capital, while less developed countries must worry about [capital flight](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/capitalflight.asp).”
Everyone wants U.S. dollars because it is the world reserve currency. And before you reach the disadvantages section and talk about how Foreign Investors are going to own everything in the U.S. here are some numbers.
Foreign investors own:
3.1% of all privately owned land. Most of this is Canada, Netherlands, Italy, UK, and Germany
22.9% of the national debt. Japan, owns the most, China and UK a close 2nd and 3rd
27% of Corporate debt
17% of Equities
2-3% of homes
It’s virtually impossible for the United States to get to a positive trade deficit due to the demand for U.S. dollars. Goods flow into the U.S. because people want U.S. dollars to invest in the United States, so the money a lot of times comes back to the U.S. Still we aren’t owned by anyone. The vast majority of assets are still owned by Americans. And that will continue to be the case.
Why does it matter? We are spending more on exports than on imports. So what? I feel like it is natural that this will happen when you have a very wealthy country that makes a huge amount of money off of things not considered to be exports. Correct me if I’m wrong but it seems to me that the costs of imports and exports isn’t that meaningful when the country we are talking about makes a huge portion of its money from investments and stuff like that which aren’t considered exports. We make money off of international businesses that we run. We then spend that money on imports and inflate the amount spent on imports compared to exports. What’s the problem with this? Saying we import more than we export means nothing when so many Americans work in business which has nothing to do with imports/exports. We basically export a lot of services and investment which aren’t actual physical exports which is why we have a trade deficit. I don’t see a problem with this.
I don’t understand why so many people are going crazy over how the US doesn’t do as much manufacturings. We don’t do it because it’s cheaper to have others do it and then import it. Meanwhile we instead export a lot of services/investment because we have a lot of education/capital due to us being a very wealthy nation. We run/own international and foreign businesses which bring a lot of money. It is economically more efficient for us to just do this. Exports and imports are not the same thing as total cash inflows and outflows.
“The most beautiful word in the human language, tariffs” DJT
Reinvestment in industrialization IS happening and it’s happening at a rate that hasn’t been seen in over 30 years.
I don’t know why it’s not bigger news, but policies like the CHIPS Act and Inflation Reduction Act have caused absolutely massive investments into industrial facilities. This should be celebrated but I never see it being talked about in the mainstream media.
https://www.piie.com/research/piie-charts/2024/investment-us-factories-has-soared-end-2022
By convincing Americans to work for $.38 an hour
Can someone explain to me how [the US can account for more than a quarter of global GDP](https://www.statista.com/statistics/268173/countries-with-the-largest-gross-domestic-product-gdp/#:~:text=Global%20gross%20domestic%20product%20amounts,well%20as%20the%20four%20largest), despite [making up less than 5% of the world’s population](https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/us-population/#:~:text=the%20United%20States%20population%20is,(and%20dependencies)%20by%20population), and still we have a trade deficit of $1.3 trillion?
Op, what in the actual fuck is going on with your data source here?
Get us out of NAFTA
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