Missing like a whole lot of stuff in the middle.
Dollars going out vs goods coming in is a loss in many ways.
It’s a loss in U.S commerce, employment, taxes and of course the money leaves the country and enriches others.
You can’t sustain a negative imbalance forever. You simply run out of money and all you are left with are kitchen appliances.
Tiny, little resource poor Hong Kong did it and became an economic powerhouse. Why? Lack of government interference in their market economy and on sales or income tax.
So “trade deficit” per se is a red herring.
But robust growth in our GDP is not a red herring - we need growth in GDP. But tariffs will NEVER get you there. Government is not the friend but the enemy of a robust market economy and a growing GDP. Tariffs (more taxes) hamper GDP and utterly fail to address the underlying causes of businesses fleeing America because of the high cost of doing business here, the solutions to which I’ve explained.