Only if one uses the flawed metric of measuring trade in dollars. Otherwise, mutually-beneficial "trade" would still happen - but in the form of sharing older,

Only if one uses the flawed metric of measuring trade in dollars. Otherwise, mutually-beneficial "trade" would still happen - but in the form of sharing older, out-of-copyright works. After all, it's mutual benefit that economists tout as the motivation for increasing trade, not the siphoning of money from consumers to media oligopolies. It's also a huge market inefficiency - how many millions, if not billions, are wasted on creating new works, when in many cases older works would satisfy consumer demand just as well? Oddly, economists have little to say on this - they only speak up against inefficiency when doing so aligns with corporate interests.