While Trump frequently cites the deficit as evidence of the failure of his predecessors’ trade policies — even though most economists don’t dwell on the indicator — the gap has increased by $119 billion during his two years as president. Even if he completes an accord to end the tariff war with China, substantially shrinking the deficit may prove tough as cooling global growth weighs on exports while domestic demand keeps driving shipments from abroad.

Source: Los Angeles Times March 06, 2019 16:18 UTC