There seems to be a lot of misunderstandings about how tariffs and trade deficits work
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So, to start, lets talk about imported goods. Imports are goods (food, materials, products, etc.) people want to purchase. They are ordered by individuals, businesses, corporations, etc. When an import enters a country for delivery the Tariff or import tax is paid by the country that purchased the goods. That cost is then passed on to the consumer who eventually buys the goods.
Sidebar: If you have ever seen duty free goods when traveling that means it is a tax free or tariff free imported good. Duty is an import and/or export tax.
A trade deficit happens when you import more goods than you export. When two countries both have exports to each other but one country's imports are higher (in cost) than the other that is a trade deficit; China imports less goods from the United States than the U.S. imports from China. A trade surplus is when your exports exceed your imports; you're selling more than you're buying.
Trade deficits are more common than trade surpluses, about 60 percent of countries carry a trade deficit. Trade deficits exist because countries buy goods from other countries (at the behest of their citizens) because of demand for those goods. You can never truly have equal trade because trade is about getting products that your country doesn't produce, provide via resources or labor cost, or grow or mine because of global location (eg. fruits that only grow in certain areas).
