Trade deficit
When imports exceed exports—financed by borrowing from abroad or selling assets to foreign investors.
Deficits dominated U.S. political rhetoric for decades despite economists’ reminders that they mirror capital inflows and reflect investment opportunities as much as “losing” at trade.
Reading the map
High-import states are not morally weaker than high-export states; composition—energy, manufacturing, ports—matters. Topic pages on trade help interpret what aggregates imply.
Like surplus, the trade deficit concept is part of the content plan’s state_trade_metrics bundle (with globalization, exchange rates, capital flows, and economic growth).