The balance of trade, or net exports (sometimes symbolized as NX), is the difference between the monetary value of exports and imports of output in an economy over a certain period. It is the relationship between a nation's imports and exports. A positive balance is known as a trade surplus if it consists of exporting more than is imported; a negative balance is referred to as a trade deficit or, informally, a trade gap. The balance of trade is sometimes divided into a goods and a services balance.
Early understanding of the functioning of balance of trade informed the economic policies of Early Modern Europe that are grouped under the heading mercantilism. An early statement appeared in Discourse of the Common Wealth of this Realm of England, 1549: "We must always take heed that we buy no more from strangers than we sell them, for so should we impoverish ourselves and enrich them." Similarly a systematic and coherent explanation of balance of trade was made public through Thomas Mun's c1630 "England's treasure by forraign trade, or, The balance of our forraign trade is the rule of our treasure"
Read more about Balance Of Trade: Definition, Physical Balance of Trade, United States Trade Deficit
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