While the US amasses the largest merchandise trade deficit, that deficit does not rank as the largest as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP.) Our country hits about 4.5% on that basis. The United Kingdom hits a 5.7% merchandise trade deficit as a percentage of GDP; India a 6.1%, Hong Kong a 15% and the United Arab Emirates an 18%. India has grown over 6% per year on average over the last quarter century, and Hong Kong and the UAE are a bit better than 4%. Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, Ethiopia, Pakistan, in all about 50 countries run merchandise trade deficits as a group averaging 9% of GDP, but grow 3.5% a year or better.

Note the term "merchandise" trade deficit. FX Delta 2.0 Trading Review Merchandise involves tangible goods - autos, smartphones, apparel, steel. Services - legal, financial, copyright, patent, computing - represent a different group of goods, intangible, i.e. hard to hold or touch. The US achieves a trade surplus here, $ 220 billion, the largest of any country, a notable partial offset to the trade deficit.

The trade deficit also masks the gross dollar value of the trade.