trade deficit
Buying exceeds selling
A trade deficit occurs when a country imports more goods and services than it exports—spending more on foreign products than it earns from selling its own abroad.
The opposite is a trade surplus.
Trade deficits are often discussed in political and economic debates: The trade deficit with China has become a campaign issue.
Whether deficits harm an economy is contested among economists.
Taxes on imports
- protectionismShielding local producers
- import quotasLimits on foreign purchases
- sanctionsPunitive international restrictions
- dutiesRequired tasks or charges
subsidies · currency manipulation · retaliation · anti-dumping · WTO · NAFTA
Nation's international transaction record
- current accountBank account for regular transactions
- exchange rateCurrency conversion value
- currency devaluationReducing money's official value
- foreign exchangeTrading between national currencies
capital flows · GDP · economic growth · recession · inflation · fiscal policy · monetary policy · foreign investment
Failure to reach quota
- negative balanceFunds owed, not held
- disparityMeasurable difference between things
- mismatchIncompatible combination
- asymmetryAbsence of balanced form
gap · discrepancy · lopsidedness · divergence
Government's accumulated borrowing
- borrowingTemporary taking of another's
- creditorsThose owed payment
- foreign ownershipControl by non-domestic entities
- factory closuresManufacturing facilities ending operations
job losses · economic dependence · wealth transfer · interest payments · foreign debt
Third-party task delegation
- globalizationWorldwide economic and cultural integration
- offshoringMoving work overseas
- comparative advantageLowest opportunity cost production
- labor costsPayment for work performed
manufacturing decline · consumer demand · oil imports · deindustrialization · production costs
Bringing goods from overseas
- consumptionUsing up of resources
- merchandiseCommercial products offered
- consumer goodsProducts bought by individuals
- electronicsStudy of circuits
tariffs
Taxes on imports
- protectionismShielding local producers
- import quotasLimits on foreign purchases
- sanctionsPunitive international restrictions
duties · subsidies · currency manipulation · retaliation · anti-dumping · WTO · NAFTA
balance of payments
Nation's international transaction record
- current accountBank account for regular transactions
- exchange rateCurrency conversion value
- currency devaluationReducing money's official value
foreign exchange · capital flows · GDP · economic growth · recession · inflation · fiscal policy · monetary policy · foreign investment
shortfall
Failure to reach quota
- negative balanceFunds owed, not held
- disparityMeasurable difference between things
- mismatchIncompatible combination
asymmetry · gap · discrepancy · lopsidedness · divergence
national debt
Government's accumulated borrowing
- borrowingTemporary taking of another's
- creditorsThose owed payment
- foreign ownershipControl by non-domestic entities
job losses · factory closures · economic dependence · wealth transfer · interest payments · foreign debt
outsourcing
Third-party task delegation
- globalizationWorldwide economic and cultural integration
- offshoringMoving work overseas
- comparative advantageLowest opportunity cost production
labor costs · manufacturing decline · consumer demand · oil imports · deindustrialization · production costs
importation
Bringing goods from overseas
- consumptionUsing up of resources
- merchandiseCommercial products offered
- consumer goodsProducts bought by individuals
- deficitsshortfall, overspending, borrowing, budget gap, funding gap
- EU tradesingle market, common market, free movement, customs union, harmonization
- business termsfranchising, revenue stream, board meeting, gross margin, markdown
- economicssupply and demand, inflation, GDP, GNP, gross domestic product
- economyGDP, money, inflation, inflation rate, GNP
- global tradeexport tax, exports, import tax, imports, export
trade, trading, deficit, trademark, traded, deficiency, deficient, trade-off, trademarked