It seems unfair to lay the blame for this situation on the US government. After all, I expect most US government spending goes to domestic recipients, not to im

It seems unfair to lay the blame for this situation on the US government. After all, I expect most US government spending goes to domestic recipients, not to imports. Asking for the US government to reduce its deficit is also not likely to be productive: It would certainly reduce US GDP and destroy jobs, but it's unclear how that would help balance international trade. It is also not a good idea to ask for mechanisms to accumulate "national wealth" in the form of foreign assets, because (as the Euro crisis shows so clearly) that is a strategy that cannot be applied universally. In the end, I suspect Buffett is right that some kind of tariff is required to "punish" the bad behavior of Thriftville.