The prevailing dislike for imports among America’s political class has an old and bipartisan pedigree. At least since the Carter administration — the last time the country’s broad balance of trade was in the black — members of both parties have bemoaned the country’s persistent trade deficit as evidence of some deep national weakness.

President Donald Trump's trade agenda has focused on deploying tariffs to address the trade deficit with other countries, though economists say it's unlikely to narrow that gap.