Final answer:
The high and low points for U.S. exports occurred at different times in history. From the 1960s to the 1970s, the U.S. had mostly small trade surpluses with positive export numbers. However, in the 1980s, the trade deficit started to increase rapidly.
Step-by-step explanation:
The high and low points for U.S. exports occurred at different times in history. From the 1960s to the 1970s, the U.S. had mostly small trade surpluses with positive export numbers. However, in the 1980s, the trade deficit started to increase rapidly. In 1991, there was a tiny surplus, but the deficit became even larger in the late 1990s and into the mid-2000s. The trade deficit declined in 2009 after the recession, then rebounded partially in 2010 and remained stable up until 2016.