In a trading nation, a nation where international trade constitutes a large portion of its gross domestic product, trading takes place between nations in the form of commerce. A great trading nation can be a thriving nation with a strong economy and a strong military. A trading nation that gets its exports to other nations through legal channels and properly monitors its imports will have a thriving economy that does not rely on either one-way trade or on illegal trading with the enemy nation. In a trading nation a country’s trade flows both ways.

For China to enjoy a great trading nation status, it needs to continue to build up its non-exchange trade such as its large and growing presence in other countries’ markets, it needs to reduce its over-dubbed surplus imports, and it needs to ensure that its merchandise continues to enter the country proper. These activities will reduce the surplus imports (also known as ex-ports) and reduce the surplus over-dubbed by China. This will increase China’s exports, increase China’s surplus, and make China a great trading nation once again. It seems that all these factors are being taken care of right now by China and this is encouraging.

A trading nation always wants to keep its costs down its goods and services competitively. It also would like to see the world adopt the same rules of the game for its exports that it does for its imports. Thus, if the United States does not start playing nice with China and other nations, it will continue to be an unfriendly nation to international trade. The current trend of the United States toward the protectionism movement is not helpful to international trade at all. The fact is that the United States is starting to look like the international bad boy, and that is not very attractive to any nation other than those which do not wish to be called an international bad boy. Therefore, for the United States to truly regain its place as a great trading nation, it needs to stop trading with everyone and start giving.