Imports vs Exports, Winners and Loses

A point that always got me thinking, if a country such as Ireland determines their wealth by taking Import costs vs Export cost, and all countries do this, they cannot all have a positive gain, some countries must be negative or loosing out, and who are these poor countries?

I think you mean that all countries can't be net exporters and run trade surpluses?

Yes, correct.

Who runs trade deficits?

USA and Uk, for a start.

The UK trade deficit is 2% of their GDP, approx.

See here:

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/uktra...ly-offsets-record-trade-deficit-on-goods.html

It is certainly true that the sum of all exports must equal the sum of all imports, unless we are exporting to Mars!

In any case, Imports and Exports generally only count goods & services, but not financial transfers such as interest payments, dividends, loans and investments

Also, it is very difficult to account for all imports/exports eg illicit drugs

Its swings and roundabouts, the net result must be zero

GDP, i.e. everything produced and spent in a country is GDP=C+I+G+(X-M), where C is consumer spending, I is private sector investment, G is government expenditure, and (X-M) is the difference between exports (X) and imports (M). So, having a balance of trade deficit is not necessarily a problem if e.g. inward investment compensates. If you focus on the balance of trade you just get public policy that is over-focused on the needs of exporting companies, to the detriment of consumers and investors.