Fact of the Day: The Trade Deficit Is Getting Worse

Every president promises to reduce the trade deficit, but few come through. The elder Bush did it and Barack Obama did it, but that’s it for the past six presidents. The rest of them just made it worse. In recent years, the trade deficit stayed steady during Obama’s second term at about -2.8 percent, but despite Trump’s widespread imposition of tariffs and his promise to reduce the trade deficit, he was unable to make a dent in it when he took over. In fact, the trade deficit is set to get worse this year, projected to finish at about -3 percent.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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