Balance of trade is a term that deals with a nation’s import and export trade activity. Typically speaking, the balance of trade is one that is sought to be maintained by countries in regards to imports and exports, where the relationship will prove to be equal and have overall desirable economic results.
However, a perfect balance of trade will usually not be the case, for trading systems will often prove that a particular country’s economic situation may actually benefit from one aspect being greater than the other.
Trading systems that will have more imports than exports being traded will be considered to be in trade deficit. Conversely, trading systems exporting more than importing is known to be a trade surplus. Both terms can prove to be both positive and negative to country depending on the economic situation of the nation.
An example of how trading systems will work with the balance of trade is in the case of nation seeking to pull out of recession period in its economy. In such a case, the country will prove to benefit from a trade surplus. Having more exports than imports can provide for a method to stimulate the domestic economy by allowing domestic products to be traded more so than those being imported.
The opposite situation would prove to be beneficial in the case that a country is experiencing an inflation period. Therefore, both a trade deficit and a trade surplus can prove to be beneficial for a certain period of time in order to achieve an economical balance.
