US-China trade balance in goods

China is the world’s largest economy and the largest lender to the US. In this trade balance chart we can see the US has a deficit against China, so what exactly would it mean to put tariffs on all of China’s imports into the US? The big picture, of course, consists of much more than just the trade in goods, which is merely a part of the current account. To fully understand the relationship and dependencies between both countries, we would have to add up to the current account, the capital account and the financial account, to come up with the balance of payments. You can read all about it here.