American labor and industry officials on May 18 blamed unfair foreign competition for destroying U.S. jobs, something President Donald Trump has railed about repeatedly.
But in response to the administration’s call for comment on the causes of the U.S. trade deficit, economists and industry groups stressed that trade is beneficial and creates jobs throughout the economy, even if some are lost locally.
The influential U.S. Chamber of Commerce said the trade deficit is not “an appropriate gauge of whether a particular set of trade policies — or trade agreements — is delivering benefits to the American people more broadly.”
