The latest monthly U.S. trade figures were released this morning by the Department of Commerce:

• In August 2012, the U.S. racked up an international goods and services trade deficit of $44.2 billion.
• The monthly goods deficit with China fell slightly to $28.7 billion in August, down from $29.4 billion in July.  This is still the second highest monthly trade deficit with China in 2012.

Said Scott Paul, Executive Director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM):

"America will never see robust growth unless we manage to reduce the trade deficit. China continues to be the main impediment to progress. While trade actions on Chinese auto parts and solar panels are a good and welcome start, we need to see a comprehensive approach. Our goal shouldn’t simply be to double exports—we must erase the trade deficit."

As AAM has pointed out, the "China issue" should have been a major point of discussion in last week's presidential debate, including such key questions as:

1.     What would you do to prevent American tax dollars from creating jobs overseas?
2.     Do you support strong trade enforcement when other nations cheat?
3.     Do you believe that our trade deficit with China is a national security issue?
4.     What actions would you take to penalize China for its currency manipulation and would it include supporting legislation that has passed the Senate and is supported by a majority of members in the House?