For about the past half century the US has maintained a trade deficit. On the other hand, China has developed a trade surplus mostly because of the lopsided trade situation between the two countries. China makes a wide range of cheap goods and most of them are bought in the US.

During the financial crisis, and its aftermath, these imbalances seemed to rein in a bit and trade between the two countries looked like it could at least be headed back in the direction of a healthy alignment. However, it was a temporary and misleading close in the gap. The imbalance reduced only because global trade overall was shrinking… including the distortions… not because there was any real improvement in the US-China trade situation.