trade deficit

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

the condition in which a country's imports of goods and services exceed its exports over a given period, resulting in a negative balance of trade; a trade deficit means a country is spending more on foreign products than it earns from selling its own goods and services abroad, and must be financed by net capital inflows — foreign investment, borrowing, or drawdown of reserves; trade deficits are often mischaracterised as inherently harmful: in fact, they reflect a combination of macroeconomic factors including relative growth rates, savings rates, and exchange rates, and a persistent deficit may reflect a healthy economy attracting capital rather than one losing competitiveness