U.S. Trade Deficit Shrinks

February 11, 2020

US trade deficit shrinks in 2019

Questions

1. What were the changes in U.S. exports and U.S. imports that led to the trade deficit shrinking in 2019?
2. Where are imports and exports recorded in the balance of payments accounts?
3. Everything else remaining the same, what is the effect of a smaller trade deficit on the sum of the balance of payments accounts?
4. Why are net exports determined by the government budget and saving and investment, and not by the application of tariffs?
5. If the trade deficit is shrinking and the government budget deficit is growing, what is happening to the private sector balance?