Ending the U.S. trade deficit with tariffs is impossible, and it risks eliminating two longstanding U.S. surpluses

Ending the U.S. Trade Deficit With Tariffs Is Impossible, and It Risks Eliminating Two Longstanding U.S. Surpluses

Author: Steve H. Hanke and Caleb Hofmann

Outlet: Fortune

Date: April 28, 2025

Hanke and co-author Caleb Hofmann argue that tariffs are a futile tool for closing the U.S. trade deficit and, worse, threaten to eliminate two longstanding U.S. surpluses: its services surplus and its capital surplus. The authors conclude that in the ongoing trade war, any 'victory' the U.S. achieves through tariffs would be a Pyrrhic one, won at the cost of advantages the country has held for decades.

Read at Fortune

Full Citation:

"Ending the U.S. trade deficit with tariffs is impossible, and it risks eliminating two longstanding U.S. surpluses," Fortune, April 28, 2025. (with Caleb Hofmann)