Article • Dean Baker’s Beat the Press
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The Washington Post had an article reviewing Donald Trump’s various efforts to secure trade and other agreements with foreign countries. It comments briefly on the trade pact Trump negotiated with South Korea.
While the piece noted that the deal made few major changes in U.S.-Korea trade relations, it would have been useful to report on the impact on the trade deficit with South Korea. In the first eight months of 2018, the U.S. trade deficit in goods with South Korea was $11.7 billion. In the same months of 2019 it has been $14.9 billion. The full impact of any trade deal will only be felt after many years and there are many factors that affect bilateral trade deficits, but for now, at least, there is little evidence that Trump’s trade deal has reduced the country’s trade deficit with South Korea.