Either we cut it out or it will kill America. But protection wouldn't necessarily cut it out. Imports would go down, but so would exports. Exporters would be hurt by an appreciating currency, by retaliatory protection abroad, and by increased sluggishness among protected firms that would suddenly have little incentive to look outside the cozy home market. Buchanan's promise to eliminate the trade deficit is, in addition, mathematically incompatible with his promise to make Americans invest less abroad and foreigners invest more here.
Trade deficits are the mirror image of capital surpluses.
So he ignores them. Buchanan also ignores the actual beliefs of the statesmen whose shades he repeatedly invokes. He argues that only foreigners, or consumers of imports, pay tariffs. Actually, everyone pays because domestic producers can raise their prices. Alexander Hamilton understood that.