IHS Markit contends that the total 2017 US merchandise trade deficit was nearly $250 billion lower than it would have been otherwise had the petroleum trade deficit remained at the 2007 level. The dramatic increase in U.S. oil and natural gas production over the past decade has limited the growth of the country’s domestic merchandise trade deficit by lowering net petroleum imports. In fact, the United States is poised to become a net-exporter of petroleum for the first time since at least 1949. Those are two takeaways from a new IHS Markit report, “Trading Places: How the Shale Revolution Has Helped Keep the U.S. Trade Deficit in Check.” IHS Markit contends that the total 2017 U.S. merchandise trade deficit was nearly $250 billion lower than it would have been otherwise had the petroleum trade deficit remained at the 2007 level. To provide some context, the business information provider points […]