Deficit

If the exportation of "a sense of security" by the America to cover for its deficits in trade is ingenious, the Victorian Britain was certainly more realistic.

You know what, in the 16th and 17th century, there was a huge deficit in English trade with China. That's easy to understand: tea, silk and china were all in great need by the Anglo-Saxons, but what did the Qing Empire want from them ?

Nothing, except silver.

(It was fortunate for all European countries because silver price fell a lot in that century because huge silver mines were discovered in Peru.)

Then, the wind changed. Opium dominated the trade, and the flow of silver went the other direction. It was a time when the Qing Empire used the silver standard for its currency, a negative silver balance inevitable resulted in bankruptcy of the government, and the rest, alas, has become history.

PS. Silver balance and supply used to be a hot topic for lovers of economy and history. Interested readers may like to read the original report in Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations.