As recently as 2009, nearly half the U.S. trade deficit was driven by one product: petroleum. If ever a national strategy could be devised to tackle the trade gap by targeting an individual product or individual set of countries, American dependence on foreign oil was on its face the place to look. The U.S. did, in fact, conquer its oil deficit and a trade deficit with the oil-producing nations of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Source: Wall Street Journal March 25, 2018 15:56 UTC