The U.S. government may alter reported trade deficit figures so that the headline will exclude re-exports. That would optically increase the deficit, but is a technical measure that can be easily reversed for comparability. As a negotiating tactic, which appears to be the motivation of the Trump administration, it may not work. While U.S. re-exports were 15% of total exports in 2016, the figure for Canada was 9% and for Hong Kong it was much higher. Presumably all countries would come to the negotiating table with restated figures. Additionally, the level of re-exports has increased over...