your misunderstanding is near complete.
If the manufacturing had not been moved, there would be no products because the US based business would be dead
The money from the imbalance is making it’s way back by investment in business and real estate. In the end, just as with the Japanese in the 80’s we get the money back.
American companies are not dummies. If it were good business not to subcontract manufacturing out of the country, they would not have done so.
“your misunderstanding is near complete.”
Really? Tell us all about your in depth study of American trade policy. I’m sure it will be fascinating.
Of course. A very astute observation!
Moreover, our prosperity will soar when and if we get rid of multiple impediments placed on our economy by Obama and his cronies, not to mention assorted economic poisons left over from FDR's New Deal and LBJ's New Society.
But here's a factor that's seldom commented upon:
If and when the American economy soars and outpaces most foreign countries, we will attract more and more foreign investment, because wise foreigners will quickly see that their capital can earn greater returns in the USA than in their homelands.
In turn, the increased international inflow of capital will give American firms and consumers more funds to buy foreign-made goods.
(They will necessarily buy certain items from abroad, because domestic production in many industries will already be at or near full capacity.)
Therefore, improved prosperity can cause our so-called "trade deficit" to increase, not to decrease. Annual increases of this sort could happen over a few years -- or they could occur indefinitely if the rate of return on capital in the USA continued to be higher than the average rate of return in the rest of the world.
Still, will putative "economic prestidigitators" like Mr. Trump, his advisor Steve Miller, or Clyde Prestowitz be able to understand how our international capital account can be "mirror imaged" by our merchandise account, such that increased American prosperity will likely contribute to an increased imbalance in merchandise trade?
I think the question answers itself.