Remember when our trade deficit with China mattered? Half-year figures for Sino-American goods trade were published Friday, but you're in good company if you missed it. It's hard for the bilateral trade deficit to affect the US economy. It's therefore even harder for tariffs on Chinese goods to do so, despite parts of business insisting they're awful and parts of labor insisting they're vital. The bilateral deficit does matter, but not the way most people think.
