[Willie Green]

When it comes to the country's trade balance in commodities that are not end-products themselves but are only raw materials to be used elsewhere in the chain of production/consumption, I would make the case that a large trade deficit is a GOOD thing.

Importation of raw materials is not necessarily "bad" if the materials are being further processed in value-added industries that create wealth. However, if those productive industries are themselves in decline, and utilization of the imported materials is increasingly used to sustain the consumptive service sectors, then wealth creation is in decline and is actually being dissipated. That WOULD be "bad".

[Moonman62]

Yet we have an $11 trillion economy and it's still growing. No other economy even comes close.