It's not that big a deal. Plus we account for only seven per cent of it — five per cent if you add in services trade, as you should

You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.

At Friday’s evening’s Mar-a-Lago dinner, when he wasn’t joshing about Canada becoming the 51st state, Donald Trump was nagging Justin Trudeau over Canada’s trade surplus with the United States. For Trump the overall U.S. trade deficit has been a concern since at least the 1980s.

Trouble is, much of Trump’s economic policy is more or less guaranteed to produce a trade deficit. He obviously wants a strong economy, all presidents do. (Joe Biden thought he had one but nobody believed him.) Trump also likely regards a strong dollar as confirmation of America’s economic greatness, even if it hurts U.S. exporters, and his aggressive tariffs will juice the dollar whether he likes it or not. Finally, he favours strongly pro-investment taxes and regulation. He doesn’t necessarily favour foreign investment into the U.S., but if he makes the U.S. a highly hospitable place for investment, where will the world want to put its extra cash?

Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.

Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

That set of policy goals is not consistent with running trade surpluses. If you’ve got a strong economy,........

© Financial Post