A trade deficit means we ship portraits of George out instead of goods that are more useful. I've got a big trade deficit with my barber.
This seems like a good deal to me. The US sends China paper with funny pictures printed on it, and gets back real goods. And as far as I can see, they have the ability to print infinite amounts of the funny paper.
Running a trade deficit doesn't inherently mean you are losing utility from the trade. Your trade deficit with Walmart (or Costco, or whatever) is negative but both of you gained from the trade. China cheats, and there is no doubt in that; but I am not convinced that US's trade deficit is purely or even mostly a result of that.