We have a trade deficit because we don't have enough savings to fund our spending.
Juat as importantly, and probably more so, we have trade deficits because our economy is so advanced. Trade deficits are not necessarily a bad thing at all.
It's not so much that it's advanced. Germany has an advanced economy too, and it runs a trade surplus.
But it's important to note that there is absolutely no relationship between economic growth and trade deficits/surpluses. Some economies growth fast with trade deficits and some growth slowly with trade surpluses.
If you've studied economics, you must understand the simple identity
(current account) = capital account
The current account is the trade account. The capital account is the balance of capital flows. We will have a positive capital account if we are importing more capital than we are exporting.
If the current account is in a deficit, the capital account must be in a surplus. If everyone in the world decides that they want to invest in the United States moreso than Americans want to invest in the rest of the world,
then we will run a trade deficit, and it has nothing to do with our trade competitiveness. If Americans want to consume more than we save, then we must import capital,
and we will run a trade deficit, and it has nothing to do with our trade competitiveness. The trade deficit is due primarily because of the American consumer. Trump's policies have merely accelerated these trends. Tariffs will not solve this, unless the purpose of the tariffs is to drive the economy into a brutal recession, which will lead to a narrowing of the trade deficit.
Very few people in this thread have studied economics and thus don't understand this.