What's so bad about a trade deficit?
Apr 08, 2025•9 min
Episode description
President Trump claims a main goal of his crippling tariffs is to address the U.S. trade deficit. So is the U.S. trade deficit a problem? On today's show, why we'll never have a trade surplus with every single country; what the benefits of a trade deficit are; and whether or not the trade deficit affects jobs.
Related episodes:
Tariffied! We check in on businesses (Apple / Spotify)
Why there's no referee for the trade war (Apple / Spotify)
Common economic myths debunked (Apple / Spotify)
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Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.
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Related episodes:
Tariffied! We check in on businesses (Apple / Spotify)
Why there's no referee for the trade war (Apple / Spotify)
Common economic myths debunked (Apple / Spotify)
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
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