Balance of trade

Not to be confused with Balance of payments.

Balance of trade is the difference between the monetary value of a nation's exports and imports of goods over a certain time period.[1] Sometimes, trade in services is also included in the balance of trade but the official IMF definition only considers goods.[2] The balance of trade measures a flow variable of exports and imports over a given period of time. The notion of the balance of trade does not mean that exports and imports are "in balance" with each other.

If a country exports a greater value than it imports, it has a trade surplus or positive trade balance, and conversely, if a country imports a greater value than it exports, it has a trade deficit or negative trade balance. As of 2016, about 60 out of 200 countries have a trade surplus. The idea that a trade deficit is detrimental to a nation's economy is often rejected by modern trade experts and economists.[3][4][5][6]

The notion that bilateral trade deficits are bad in and of themselves is overwhelmingly rejected by trade experts and economists.[7][3][4][5][6]

  1. ^ O'Sullivan, Arthur; Sheffrin, Steven M. (2003). Economics: Principles in Action. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. p. 462. ISBN 0130630853.
  2. ^ Wittpenn, Bronte (4 April 2025). "No, that's not what a trade deficit means – and that's not how you calculate other nations' tariffs". The Conversation. Associated Press. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :15 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b "What Is the Trade Deficit?". The New York Times. 9 June 2018. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference :16 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.