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Trade deficit or Trump’s narcissism?

The Freeman

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April 12, 2025

As Trump's reciprocal tariffs were on a pause, the global stock market bounced back at once. However, after knowing that the tariffs on Canada and Mexico stayed and that of China egregiously went up to 145%, all bourses plunged to the bottom again as quickly as it rose the following day.

- Fidel O. Abalos

If there is an obvious key takeaway in this, it's uncertainty. Whether deliberately done by Trump or not, we don't know. What is put forward though is that these tariffs are supposed to address the burgeoning trade deficit of the USA.

Looking intently, this trade deficit that Trump (and his minions) is telling the world is a trade deficit on goods. Knowing that the USA is a service economy (according to Wikipedia, US service sector contributes around 80% to its GDP) that should be understandable.

Indeed, this is not difficult to understand. Is it difficult to understand that we (the global citizens) do watch Hollywood films, Netflix, YouTube and other similar services? Cinema operators and subscribers pay. Aren't we hooked up on Facebook, Instagram and other related services? Advertisers pay.

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