Reply #6: It could also be corporate media happy talk

[Populist_Prole]

This was common throughout from the 90's and on. A lot of it is used to "butter up" the public and electorate in order to impart on them a bullish-ness on "free trade" in preparation for upcoming free trade pacts they're going to want to ram through. Yes, exports are good news, but you must keep it in perspective: The import/export balance is so lopsided that you can bet they'll be offset by yet more "job killing" imports - and even if exports should rise a bit relative to imports, it is plainly obvious that at the present rate, it is all but impossible for them to "export" our way to even near parity, let alone surplus.

Another point...musing of mine based on following this issue for decades: Why are rare and small drops in our trade deficit rah-rah-ed and writ large in the corporate media? Why are ever larger increases in the trade deficit whitewashed away with happy talk from the same crowd? Hell, anytime a concern is issued at that point they'll glibly say it's nothing to be concerned about....cheap goods from China and all, right?

If exports are good for jobs, why do they not admit that imports are "job killing"?

They're spoon feeding the sheep.