The impact of the Value Added Tax, or VAT, on international trade is a complicated aspect of global commerce that is generally only comprehended by experts. Yet, the impact of the VAT may be the single most important variable in explaining U.S. balance of trade deficits that are spiraling out of control - to the detriment of both U.S. manufacturing and the continuing validity of the U.S. dollar itself. 

...Simply put, the average United States citizen can no longer afford not to understand the VAT, especially now, in an era where the World Trade Organization dominates our international trade agenda and where NAFTA has morphed into NAFTA-plus, as demonstrated by the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, which President Bush declared with Mexico and Canada at the Waco, Texas, summit of March 23, 2005.  Full Article