More generally, we mustn’t forget that the American dollars we spend on imports eventually return to America, either by foreigners purchasing American exports or making investments. Protectionists like Mr. Trump always complain about the United States’ trade deficit for goods but mention neither the surplus of foreign investment capital that we get nor our trade surplus in services.

Here’s how it works: The American dollars we use to buy imports are of little use to foreigners outside our borders. They are, however, of great use to foreigners who want to invest within the United States. And that’s what happens with the dollars that aren’t spent on American exports.

Foreign investment is key to our economic growth here at home. In other words, we Americans win when we get to buy the stuff we want from abroad and when those dollars are pumped back into our economy.

This benefit remains intact despite Beijing’s many violations of our trade rules — such as its subsidization of Chinese steel makers. It’s true that those subsidies artificially lower the price of steel imported by America and might hurt some American steel mills and workers. But this effect is the same as it would be if Chinese steel makers had a genuine efficiency advantage over our producers. Despite the administration’s constant refrain about the devastating impact of foreign export subsidies on the steel industry, experts know that a vastly greater number of steel jobs were lost to innovation, not trade.

Even in the subsidization scenario, we pay for Chinese steel with dollars, and the Chinese then use some of those dollars to buy our exports and use the rest to invest in our country. In both cases, it creates jobs here. The same relationship holds when the Chinese manipulate their currency to stimulate their exports.

Some worry that the Chinese won’t spend their dollars in the United States, but this concern is misplaced. If there were no foreigners who wanted to spend or invest dollars in America, the Chinese would not have exported steel to the United States to begin with. At the end of the day, dollars have value only because they can ultimately be used to buy American-made outputs or be invested in American assets.