[Gunslingr3]

In Cramer's perspective the U.S. has been crushed on almost every single trade deal it has done, going all the way back to Nafta. And every time Cramer has asked an official of either party to name a deal that was signed in the last decade that has given the U.S. a trade surplus, no one could come up with an answer.

A trade deficit isn't a 'bad thing', if trade partners choose to invest in our companies with the proceeds of trade instead of purchase goods that ultimately increases our productivity, and thereby allows our wages to grow. The problem is trade deficits combined with government deficits. If the proceeds of foreign trade go to funding our profligate government it just ultimately feeds consumption, not investment. THAT is the problem, not the trade itself. Throwing up barriers to trade won't fix that problem either, it will just end our ability to export our government's inflation, and that will result in declining purchasing power and living standards for our people.

tl;dr - if we address the federal deficits our trade balances don't matter.

[Trumpinator]

A trade deficit isn't a 'bad thing', if trade partners choose to invest in our companies with the proceeds of trade instead of purchase goods that ultimately increases our productivity, and thereby allows our wages to grow. The problem is trade deficits combined with government deficits.

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Nonsense - trade deficits cause jobs losses. Jobs that can't be outsourced or exported have not filled in the gap either in quantity of jobs available or in wages.

[central_va]

if trade partners choose to invest in our companies with the proceeds of trade

Why would anyone invest in US manufacturing when it can be off shored tomorrow?