Do trade deficits matter?

Podcast : Planet Money (LS 83 · TOP 0.01% what is this? ) Episode : Do trade deficits matter? Pub date : 2025-04-09 Get Podcast Transcript → powered by Listen411 - fast audio-to-text and summarization At the heart of President Trump's tariffs is this idea that we should not be buying more from other countries than they are buying from us. Basically, he wants to get rid of the trade deficit. And in the wake of the tariff announcement we got a LOT of questions from listeners about what that means. Do trade deficits matter? Is it bad to have a trade deficit? Are we getting ripped off? Today on the show – we tackle those questions. This episode of Planet Money was produced by Emma Peaslee and edited by Marianne McCune and Kenny Malone. It was fact checked by Sarah McClure and engineered by Kwesi Lee. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer. Find more Planet Money : Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter . Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts , Spotify , the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts. Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money + in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney . Music: NPR Source Audio - "The Westerners," "Liquid Courage," and "Blazed and Emboldened" Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.