The Washington Post Doesn't Know that the Trade Deficit Is Affected by Imports

This is what readers of an article on the U.S. trade situation would conclude. The article notes the large U.S. trade deficit, but then focuses exclusively on the role of increased exports in reducing the deficit. In fact, in order to get the deficit down to a more sustainable level we will almost certainly need both higher exports and lower imports.

Incredibly, the article never once mentioned the value of the dollar. This is by far the most important determinant of both our exports and our...