[Buttons840]

If the US has a trade deficit, doesn't that mean the US is trading make-believe pieces of paper for real goods.

Like, if I scribble on a piece of paper and then trade you the piece of paper for an incredibly engineered brand new laptop, is that bad for me? Is this a sign of my weakness?

I know economics can be complicated, and probably "it depends", but why is a trade deficit bad? Why does the Trump administration want to eliminate trade deficits?