Is this petroleum trade large enough to bring our balance of trade with China back toward equilibrium to any noticeable degree?
Actually, that is not required.
I would think so. From the article:
The U.S. supplies will help reduce China’s huge trade surplus with the U.S. and may help to counter allegations from U.S. President Donald Trump that Beijing is trading unfairly.
“With the Trump administration, the pressure on China to balance accounts with the U.S. is huge… Buying U.S. oil clearly helps toward that goal to reduce the disbalance,” said Marco Dunand, chief executive and co-founder of commodity trading house Mercuria.
As the energy exports rose, China’s January trade surplus with the United States narrowed to $21.895 billion, from $25.55 billion in December, according to official Chinese figures released on Thursday.