Is Trump Right That Mexico Is Killing US on Trade? Dan Primack - Fortune
go to original August 10, 2015

Rand Paul Mocks Trump: $19 Trillion In Debt? Make Mexico Pay For It! (Real Clear Politics)

Donald Trump has said repeatedly is that the U.S. should revisit its NAFTA agreement, because Mexico is “killing us on trade.” But the situation is much more complicated — and much less dire — than Trump suggests.

Yes, it is true that America’s trade imbalance with Mexico is at quite high right now in terms of dollars. Last year, for example, the U.S. imported $53.8 billion more of goods from Mexico in 2014 than it exported, per the U.S. Census Bureau. Over the first six months of 2015, the figure is $27.8 billion, which would pro rate out to $55.6 billion for the year.

At the same time, however, these figures are lower than average U.S.-Mexico trade imbalances for most of the past decade. The all-time high was $74.95 billion in 2007, and the trade deficit topped $60 billion for six of the seven years between 2006 and 2012.

But most important, the top-line number is not really the best way to determine the severity of the U.S.-Mexico trade imbalance. Instead, you want to look at how large the deficit is in comparison to the amount of U.S. exports to Mexico.

And when you look at those numbers over time, Trump’s claim doesn’t really hold up.

Read the rest at Fortune

Related: Trump Gets Backlash for Slamming Female Fox News Host (NZHerald)

Related: Is This the End of Donald Trump? (National Journal)

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