how can a country gain a trade surplus 
countries can shift from a trade deficit to a surplus by investing heavily in export oriented manufacturing or extracting industries it is also possible to move toward a trade surplus by placing tariffs on imported goods or by devaluing the country s currency however each of these actions can have negative consequences for an economy there are always trade offs for example tariffs often lead to inflation and higher consumer prices devaluing a currency is obviously inflationary as well and wipes out people s savings a trade deficit on its own is not necessarily a problem and doesn t need fixing for the sake of fixing 