Trump might change the way the US trade deficit is calculated
Washington — US President Donald Trump’s administration is mulling changes to how it calculates US trade deficits in a way that is likely to help bolster political arguments to renegotiate key trade deals, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing people involved in the discussions. The main idea being discussed is whether to exclude "re-exports" from the calculation of US exports, sources told the newspaper. Re-exports refer to goods that are imported into the US, then transferred to another country. Trump has been highly critical of trade deals including the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) with Mexico and Canada. By using a metric that widens the trade deficit, it could give him political leverage to make sweeping changes, the paper reported. If the government adopted the new method, the deficit with Mexico would be nearly twice as high. The Journal reported that career government employees at the US Trade Representative’s office objected to a request to prepa...
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