If you have ever heard the phrase “Trading Nation” or “The trading nation” then you are a person that definitely needs to check this out. A trading nation is simply a nation in which foreign trade constitutes a major portion of its gross domestic product. If the United States were a trading nation, then we would obviously be one of the largest users of goods and services on the planet. In fact, the U.S. economy would be just like the proverbial Swiss Watch – everybody would know when something isn’t right.
Today, we know that the U.S. is a trading nation because we see that many American companies do very well on the world market. This is because they have access to cheap goods – products from China, for example – that their competition cannot even compete with. Many of these products cannot be found in the United States due to the high cost of manufacturing them in this country. Yet, many American companies use their access to these products as a method of cheating their American counterparts into paying higher tariffs and fees for their exports of goods to China.
Other nations, such as Mexico, sell more to the United States than to China. The reason for this is because Mexico uses its access to cheap goods to give its citizens a good life, while at the same time allowing its multinational companies to operate in the U.S. without having to pay the price. Thus, while a nation such as China is trying hard to increase its international trade, the other nation continues to develop its own domestic economy.
To further understand what I am saying, it is necessary to understand the meaning of the word “trading nation.” When most people hear the term “trading nation” they automatically assume that it refers to the country that has the highest trade deficit, or that a country has lots of international trade deficit. However, the exact definition of the term is something completely different. Trading nations, also known as trading partners, do not necessarily have a high surplus imports. What they have instead are excess exports, which are usually used to buy foreign assets, and they make up the difference between the total value of the country’s exports and imports.
So what is this global trading nation that everyone seems to think exists today? In actuality there are a couple of countries that would qualify, if you measured the amount of global exports that each one of these countries received. That nation is the United States of America. While China is currently the largest exporter of goods internationally, that title is held by the United States of America.
Now, this doesn’t mean that China cannot ever come close to reaping the benefits of international trade, as there are a few exceptions. If a nation has a free trade agreement that is fair to its citizens then that nation will experience less domestic competition, which will lead to cheaper goods and services for consumers in the United States. Additionally, we must remember that the United States supports its domestic industries with plenty of federal funding, and it is our fastest growing economic engine. But the current trends don’t show us a nation that is expending enough to absorb the bulk of the global trade deficit. The time is not right for the United States to become a dumping ground for nation-ally goods, as the rest of the developed world is doing, and the United States needs to pull out of the race to be the biggest exporter.