We have almost an $800 billion a year trade deficit.

In short, chronic trade deficits are no longer merely an economic problem.

They're a national emergency that threatens our security.

We're the piggy bank that they just keep me. They take our jobs.

They take our money. They don't respect us. No one hears the word deficit and thinks, oh, that must be a good

thing. I'd like one of those. Especially not anyone who's been listening to Trump discuss the United States deficit over the

course of his second term as president. The trade deficit is a key part of what's driving Trump's

global push for reciprocal tariffs on U.S. trading partners. And while economists disagree about how

much deficits matter, there has been more discussion about solutions,

from bringing back jobs from overseas, to producing more goods to export, to reforming the tax code

for big U.S. corporations operating abroad.

But, of course, as with most things in international relations, the truth of it all is far more complicated.

And the solutions have little to do with making enemies of our trading partners.

I'm Gabrielle Sierra, and this is why it matters.

Today, we're talking about the trade deficit.

The trading gap shuffle, we're in a heap of trouble doing the trading gap shovel, yes, sir!

I already sing this song.

Oh, that was about the budget gap. This is the trading gap. So is a trade deficit necessarily a bad thing?

No, it's not necessarily a bad thing.

A fast-growing country that is investing a lot and wants to live well while it's investing a lot because it's optimistic about its future

and thinks it's going to have more income in the future will reasonably run a trade deficit

and import some savings from the rest of the world so that it can invest more.

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