United States balance of trade - wikipedia United States balance of trade This article has no lead section. Please help by adding an introductory section to this article. For more information, see the layout guide, and Wikipedia 's lead section guidelines to ensure the section will be inclusive of all the essential details. Please discuss this issue on the article 's talk page. ( August 2016 ) Deteriorating U.S. net international investment position ( NIIP ) has caused concern among economists over the effects of outsourcing and high U.S. trade deficits over the long - run. United States balance of trade ( 1980 -- 2011 ), with negative numbers denoting a trade deficit History The 1920s marked a decade of economic growth in the United States following a Classical supply side policy. U.S. President Warren Harding signed the Emergency Tariff of 1921 and the Fordney -- McCumber Tariff of 1922. Harding 's policies reduced taxes and protected U.S. business and agriculture. Following the Great Depression and World War II, the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference brought the Bretton Woods currency agreement followed by the economy of the 1950s and 1960s. In 1971, President Richard Nixon ended U.S. ties to Bretton Woods, leaving the U.S. with a floating fiat currency. Over the long run, nations with trade surpluses tend also to have a savings surplus. The U.S. generally has developed lower savings rates than its trading partners, which have tended to have trade surpluses. Germany, France, Japan, and Canada have maintained higher savings rates than the U.S. over the long run. Impacts Some economists believe that GDP and employment can be dragged down by an over-large deficit over the long run. Others believe that trade deficits are good for the economy. Wealth - producing sector jobs in the U.S. such as those in manufacturing and computer software have often been replaced by lower paying wealth - consuming service sector jobs such as those in retail and government when the economy recovered from recessions. Some economists contend that the U.S. is borrowing to fund consumption of imports while accumulating unsustainable amounts of debt. In 2006, the primary economic concerns focused on : high national debt ( $9 trillion ), high non-bank corporate debt ( $9 trillion ), high mortgage debt ( $9 trillion ), high financial institution debt ( $12 trillion ), high unfunded Medicare liability ( $30 trillion ), high unfunded Social Security liability ( $12 trillion ), high external debt ( amount owed to foreign lenders ) and a serious deterioration in the United States net international investment position ( NIIP ) ( - 24 % of GDP ), high trade deficits, and a rise in illegal immigration. These issues have raised concerns among economists and unfunded liabilities were mentioned as a serious problem facing the United States in the President 's 2006 State of the Union address. On June 26, 2009, Jeff Immelt, the CEO of General Electric, called for the U.S. to increase its manufacturing base employment to 20 % of the workforce, commenting that the U.S. has outsourced too much in some areas and can no longer rely on the financial sector and consumer spending to drive demand. In 1985, the U.S. had just began a growing trade deficit with China. During the 1990s, U.S. trade deficit became a more excessive long - run trade deficit, mostly with Asia. By 2012, the U.S. trade deficit, fiscal budget deficit, and federal debt increased to record or near record levels following accompanying decades of the implementation of broad unconditional or unilateral U.S. free trade policies and formal trade agreements. The US last had a trade surplus in 1975. However, recessions may cause short - run anomalies to rising trade deficits. References ^ Jump up to : Bivens, L. Josh ( December 14, 2004 ). Debt and the dollar Economic Policy Institute. Retrieved on July 8, 2007. Jump up ^ Joseph A. Schumpeter, `` The Decade of the Twenties '', American Economic Review vol. 36, No. 2, ( May, 1946 ), pp. 1 - 10 in JSTOR Jump up ^ The shift away from thrift. The Economist, April 7, 2005. Jump up ^ Causes and Consequences of the Trade Deficit : An Overview Jump up ^ Trade Deficits Good News for U.S. Economy Jump up ^ Hira, Ron and Anil Hira with forward by Lou Dobbs, ( May 2005 ). Outsourcing America : What 's Behind Our National Crisis and How We Can Reclaim American Jobs. ( AMACOM ) American Management Association. Citing Paul Craig Roberts, Paul Samuelson, and Lou Dobbs, pp. 36 -- 38. Jump up ^ David Friedman, New America Foundation ( 2002 - 06 - 15 ). No Light at the End of the Tunnel Los Angeles Times. ^ Jump up to : Phillips, Kevin ( 2007 ). Bad Money : Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism. Penguin. ISBN 978 - 0 - 14 - 314328 - 4. ^ Jump up to : Cauchon, Dennis and John Waggoner ( October 3, 2004 ). The Looming National Benefit Crisis USA Today Jump up ^ George W. Bush ( 2006 ) State of the Union. Retrieved on April 17, 2009. Jump up ^ Bailey, David and Soyoung Kim ( June 26, 2009 ). GE 's Immelt says U.S. economy needs industrial renewal.UK Guardian... Retrieved on June 28, 2009. Jump up ^ http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/historical/gands.txt Jump up ^ FTD - Statistics - Country Data - U.S. Trade Balance with World ( Seasonally Adjusted ) Jump up ^ http://usinfo.org/enus/economy/trade/docs/06s1288.xls Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States_Balance_of_trade&oldid=772287223 '' Categories : United States trade policy Foreign trade of the United States Hidden categories : Wikipedia introduction cleanup from August 2016 All pages needing cleanup Pages missing lead section Articles covered by WikiProject Wikify from August 2016 All articles covered by WikiProject Wikify Talk About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 26 March 2017, at 11 : 35. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: when was the last time the us had a trade surplus
Answer: 1975