It’s an interesting time in the U.S. economy. We’re experiencing a nine-year-long expansion with robust GDP growth, while a trade war is brewing between the U.S. and its major trade partners. So how important is trade to the U.S. economy, anyway?
Not very important, according to Torsten Slok, chief international economist at Deutsche Bank.
“The point is that trade is not really important for the U.S. economy. But it is really important for Europe and Asia and EM,” Slok wrote in an email to Yahoo Finance.
In a July presentation, he highlighted the U.S. economy’s little dependence on foreign trade compared to other major economies. Exports account for less than 10% of GDP in the U.S, while it makes up 40% of Germany’s GDP.
Krystal Hu | Yahoo Finance