trade deficit

noun

finance
: a situation in which a country buys more from other countries than it sells to other countries : the amount of money by which a country's imports are greater than its exports

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Meanwhile, efforts to close the trade deficit—which Trump noted as the impetus for his tariff policy—had only modest results. Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 6 Mar. 2026 The Democratic states and other critics say the president can’t use Section 122 as a replacement for the defunct tariffs to combat the trade deficit. ABC News, 5 Mar. 2026 The figure represented a 40 percent increase in the goods trade deficit from just five years prior. Kate Nishimura, Sourcing Journal, 4 Mar. 2026 While the United States has had a staggering trade deficit for decades, the balance-of-payments is near zero. Matt Egan, CNN Money, 1 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for trade deficit

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“Trade deficit.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trade%20deficit. Accessed 15 Mar. 2026.

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