The balance of trade influences currency exchange rates through its effect on the supply and demand for foreign exchange.When a country's trade account does not net to zero—that is, when exports A trade deficit occurs when a nation imports more than it exports. For instance, in 2018 the United States exported $2.500 trillion in goods and services while it imported $3.121 trillion, leaving a trade deficit of $621 billion. Services, such as tourism, intellectual property, and finance, A trade deficit is just the opposite; it occurs when the trade balance is negative and the value of what we import is more than the value of what we export. The United States has had a trade deficit for over the last ten years, though the size of the deficit has varied during that period.