Note: Value of Trade Deficit Source: International Monetary Fund
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US TRADE DEFICITS
The USA has had a trade deficit problem for most of its history. It has only been during WWI and WWII that the United States has had favorable trade balances.
Note: This is the share of the deficit ... not the absolute size of the deficits
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TRADE DEFICITS WITH GERMANY
The US trade deficit with Germany has existed for many years and has remained fairly stable since the 1970s.
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TRADE DEFICITS WITH JAPAN
The US Trade deficit with Japan grew rapidly in the 1970s and 1980s. By 1990 it was widely thought that the 20th Century would 'belong to Japan. Many major icons of America were boutht by the Japanese, including Rockefeller Center. During this period Japanese products had become better quality and more profitable than those made in the USA.
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TRADE DEFICITS WITH CHINA
US Trade with China did not exist in the 1970s. It was made possible initially by Nixon's decision to normalise relations with China, but it was only in the 1980s that technology and international logisitcs enabled trade with China to boom. This boom was not driven by the evil Chinese but by American business that learned that they could purchase Chinese goods at very low prices and sell them very profitably in the US market.
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