The U.S.: export juggernaut (if you don't count oil and China)

Not sure this data is really useful. Seems kind of like saying your checkbook has a positive balance if you don't count the withdrawals.

Our trade deficit with China is largely in China's control, as long as they keep the renminbi from appreciating against the dollar.

But our trade deficit in petroleum is largely within our control -- we could shrink it dramatically by imposing a gas tax that reflected the full costs of petroleum usage including the huge military costs incurred in protecting access to overseas sources, and by ending subsidies for petroleum consumption.

How much of that money to China goes back to U.S. corporations, and therefore gets reported as part of GNP?

IOW, if not for the funds to Chinese companies with American, would there still be a 9.5% gain in "productivity" and "the recession is over" talk?

Trade imbalances exist for global banks to make money off the discrepancies/currencies.

Like the Euro. Why Does the EU have the Euro and yet have nationalized currencies that comprise a basket of them?

When one gets a grip on how this works you're a professional FX trader esp. the global banks the world over! Most think its just pennies but when the bet is in the 100's of million every day those pennies add up!

In two day more money nationally passes through FX than all global trade in currency combined!

notionally to replace nationally