It's business models, stupid!

Abstract

In contrast to a massive current account deficit against China, the US runs a current account surplus with respect to the European Union. The US-EU surplus is largely driven by a positive service balance and primary incomes originating from US investments abroad. Services and primary incomes overcompensate the US goods trade deficit with the EU. Rather than representing a 'rip-off', the different balances reflect the economies' different business models.