A trade deficit is typical of rapidly growing economies, which require a disproportionate share of the world’s resources, and provide investment opportunities to balance the equation

See Notable & Quotable: Robert Bartley on Trade Balance Fictions from The WSJ. Excerpt:

"the United States ran a trade deficit in nearly all of its first 100 years, and ran surpluses in the midst of the Great Depression. A trade deficit is typical of rapidly growing economies, which require a disproportionate share of the world’s resources, and provide investment opportunities to balance the equation. Indeed, under the accounting identity, investment inflows must be balanced with a deficit on the trade account. The mystery is why we even collect these figures; if we kept similar statistics for Manhattan Island, Park Avenue could lay awake at night worrying about its trade deficit."