The recent forecasts on global trade of goods and services highlight the persistency of the US trade deficit. The American current account imbalance is actually expected to widen in the coming years.
We are used to considering China as the antagonist piling up trade surpluses and triggering political reactions in Washington that have brought wide support for a more protectionist agenda and led to the election of Donald Trump. China has indeed increased significantly its bilateral surplus along the past decade. However, according to the IMF forecasts reproduced in the graph below, China’s current account surplus is bound to fade down the road.

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