A current account deficit is a capital account surplus.

We can pay for imports with things we make or things we own. To a first approximation, making things employs people and owning things does not. If we pay with things we make, our economy employs people. If we pay with things we own, the jobs disappear while stocks/bonds/real estate soar.

If you want the whole story from an actual economist, read "Trade Wars are Class Wars" by Klein and Pettis.