Why does the U.S. always run a trade deficit?

Saving Gap vs. Trade Policy

• Many comments accept the article’s “saving gap” framing: the trade deficit mirrors the gap between domestic saving and investment, not simply “bad trade deals.”
• Others argue causality is reversed: abundant foreign demand for U.S. assets and dollars depresses U.S. interest rates, discourages saving and reshaping the economy toward consumption.
• Some point out that accounting identities (saving = investment) are tautologies and don’t explain real-world distribution, sectoral impacts, or which investments are actually productive.

Reserve Currency, Capital Flows, and “Exporting Dollars”

• A major thread: as issuer of the dominant reserve currency, the U.S. effectively “exports dollars” and “imports goods,” enabling Americans to consume beyond current production.
• Capital inflows show up as foreigners buying Treasuries, stocks, real estate, and corporate assets; the flip side is persistent current-account deficits and a large negative net international investment position.
• Debate on whether reserve-currency status forces a trade deficit: historically the U.S. had surpluses while the dollar was already central; critics say today’s problem is fiscal policy and under-taxation, not just reserve status.

Goods vs. Services and Measurement Problems

• Several note that focusing on goods alone overstates the “deficit problem.” The U.S. runs a sizable surplus in services (software, cloud, media, finance, IP licensing).
• Others argue services and intangibles (IP, platform control, branding) are mismeasured: where is the value of an iPhone actually “made”—China’s assembly or U.S. design and margins?

Globalization, Manufacturing, and China

• Long discussion on offshoring to China: cheap labor plus scale beat U.S. manufacturing; many argue this hollowed out U.S. industrial jobs while enriching asset owners.
• Counterpoint: U.S. manufacturing value is near all-time highs but highly automated and capital-intensive, so it employs far fewer people.
• Some propose tariffs and industrial policy to force onshoring and automation; skeptics warn this raises consumer prices and can’t recreate 1990s factory jobs.

Sustainability, Debt, and Inequality

• Concern that large, persistent deficits plus rising public debt will eventually force either higher taxes, inflation, or default-like outcomes.
• Others note U.S. private assets still far exceed liabilities; as long as productivity and innovation stay strong, the position is manageable.
• Many tie trade deficits, financialization, and asset inflation to domestic inequality and political instability.

National Security and Industrial Policy

• Several argue the deeper issue is not the deficit per se but loss of critical capabilities (chips, energy, medical supplies, defense inputs).
• This motivates support for targeted reshoring, CHIPS-style subsidies, and selective protectionism, even at some economic cost.

Politics and Economic Narratives

• Multiple comments see “trade deficit” as a political weapon: a simple story used to justify tariffs (especially under Trump), despite the underlying macro-identity.
• Split views on tariffs: some see them as necessary leverage against mercantilist surplus countries; others see them as self-harming, undermining the very reserve-currency system that currently benefits the U.S.

Skepticism About Economics

• A recurring meta-thread questions macro models themselves: heavy reliance on simplified equations, unclear causality, and failure to capture power, institutions, and class impacts.
• Some explicitly call for shifting attention from aggregate balances to who gains (owners of capital) and who loses (workers, regions, future taxpayers).