How does the U.S. economy benefit or lose from foreign trade?

Answer 1

Gain, obviously.
Yes, some employees "lose jobs" when Americans by foreign produced goods or services instead of local ones and sometimes get stuck with lower paying jobs because of this.

However, foreign goods are MUCH cheaper because of cheap labor in other countries...and companies in other countries drive down prices...American companies have to lower prices to compete with them. Think about how many bargain products are, for example, "Made in Taiwan" and "Made in China"...some people say this is cruel (IE "sweatshop labor") but, think about it, this condition is still a step up from unemployment, which is where these nations would be if the exporting firms that create these bargain products did not exist.
And when people buy these products, they save money they can choose to put into other, more crucial things, such as starting new businesses, getting higher educations, investing in American firms, and furthering America's economy and productivity.

The result is, besides having innovative markets that foster healthy competition, that the consumer wins: even if they have less money from time to time because of foreign competition, the fact each dollar they earn buys much more in value than it would if America did not trade more than evens that loss out.

In addition, trading with other countries means goods produced by American companies that have no market in America can be sold to other countries, which increases the US's Gross Domestic Product.

Export heavy countries that import relatively little, like Japan, often faced zero-bound interest rates and less investment in their own companies (as stock holders figure on lower gains).
While there are examples of American firms being swindled by illegitimate deals with other countries (cases which are fraud by American law but not the law in the country the foreign firm is running), in general there is no harm in moderate importing. We have to be careful about importing much more than we export, though, as other countries can steal our ideas and start companies that innovate beyond the point of competition and to the point we simply can not approach competition (for example, General Motors vs. Toyota). But this is an extreme case of neglect and uncompetitiveness on the part of GM, not a reason to avoid global trade.

So, in short, by both doing heavy importing and exporting, all nations win and acheive higher overall average lifestyles and welfare, which, beside fostering innovation and moreover giving credit for creativity and evolution of human society, which is the point of the economy in the first place.

Answer 2

The balance of trade (or net exports, NX) is the difference between the monetary value of exports and imports in an economy over a certain period of time. A positive balance of trade is known as a trade surplus and consists of exporting more than your imports; a negative balance of trade is known as a trade deficit or, informally, a trade gap.

The balance of trade is sometimes divided into a goods and a services balance; especially in the United Kingdom the terms visible and invisible balance are used.

The balance of trade forms part of the current account, which also includes other transactions such as income from the international investment position as well as international aid. If the current account is in surplus, the country's net international asset position increases correspondingly. Equally, a deficit decreases the net international asset position.

The trade balance is identical to the difference between a country's output and domestic demand (the difference between what goods a country produces and how many goods it buys from abroad, this does not include money respent on foreign stocks, nor does it factor the concept of importing goods to produce for the domestic market).

Measuring the balance of payments can be problematic because of problems with recording and collecting data. As an illustration of this problem, when official data for all the world's countries are added up, exports exceed imports by a few percent; it appears the world is running a positive balance of trade with itself. This cannot be true, because all transactions involve an equal credit or debit in the account of each nation. The discrepancy is widely believed to be explained by transactions intended to launder money or evade taxes, and other visibility problems. However, especially for developed countries, accuracy is likely to be good.

Factors that can affect the balance of trade figures include:

Prices of goods manufactured at home (influenced by the responsiveness of supply)
Exchange rates
Trade agreements or barriers
Other tax, tariff and trade measures
Business cycle at home or abroad.
The balance of trade is likely to differ across the business cycle. In export led growth (such as oil and early industrial goods), the balance of trade will improve during an economic expansion. However, with domestic demand led growth (as in the United States and Australia) the trade balance will worsen at the same stage in the business cycle. - Wiki

Answer 3

right now the imports are greater than the exports because of the high level of consumption in the us so right now us loses money but gains level of living with the commerce. there are some theories that this cannot be sustained over time but those theories have been put in jeopardy. so us wins something and loses something thats whats trade all about. Commerce between countries is a win--win situation for all countries but for explaining why is that youll have to read a whole chapter of commerce basics, its all based in relative prices of the goods from one country to another..

Answer 4

No they are rigged agreements to furnish our jobs to international locations so as that companies could make better income. Why do you think of that each settlement favors the different country our negotiators won't be able to be that undesirable each time till it is on objective. As an aside in economics there is not any concept of "loose" each element has a cost even the air you breath because of the prospect value.