The president’s plan, whatever it is, seems to spring from his belief that trade deficits are bad and must be eliminated.

The US merchandise-trade deficit narrowed in February for the first time in four months on stronger exports, though high ...

To put the issue in perspective, the last time the US ran a trade surplus (i.e., exports exceeding imports) was 1975; and while we’ve had deficits since then, over the last 15 years or so ...

India's trade deficit shrank significantly to USD 14.05 billion in February 2025, marking its lowest level since August 2021.