Trump's fixation on deficit shows he needs an economics primer

Donald Trump has been consistent in blaming the United States' economic woes on its trade partners, having done so even before he started campaigning to be president in 2016. However, his rationale is totally flawed.

The many economists I have talked to cannot understand why the Trump administration is so infatuated with the country's trade deficit.

When reports indicated that the US' trade deficit grew 12 percent in 2017 to $566 billion, economists were quick to point out that the Trump administration's tax reduction this year will help widen the US trade deficit by stimulating imports. Trump should raise taxes if he really wants to shrink the trade deficit.