According to a respected economic think tank, Germany broke its own trade surplus record in 2016 – in stark contrast to the USA, which is running a huge deficit.“Germany’s trade balance shows an estimated plus of $297 billion,” Christian Grimme of the Ifo Institute told Reuters on Monday. That number shows that Germany made almost $300 billion more from selling goods and services to other countries than it spent on imports during 2016, giving it a higher trade surplus than China.The Asian giant came second on the Munich-based think tank’s list, recording a balance of trade of $245 billion. Japan had the third highest trade surplus.In 2015, China had the highest balance of trade, followed by Germany in second.According to the Ifo Institute, exports of goods such as cars and chemicals had a particular impact on the German trade surplus.“Goods exports alone contributed $255 billion to the German trade surplus up until November,” said Grimme.