Do trade deficits matter?

Describing himself as a “free trader but ... also a fair trader,” President Trump – standing next to German Chancellor Angela Merkel in their post-meeting press conference – said free trade “has led to a lot of bad things happening,” and quickly cited deficits as one of those bad things. “You look at the deficits we have and you look at all the accumulation of debt,” the president said, renewing one of his favorite campaign themes and echoing language that...