Maybe somebody else said that.  I didn't say it was half the US imports.  I said its "almost half the trade deficit dollar value".  If I want to know how the trade deficit value in USD  originates and what % of the trade deficit can be attributed to oil imports - oil exports and I know the oil volume imported and the volume exported (assumed = relative 0) and the average cost of the imported oil, it makes sense to me.  I know a certain amount of oil import value is offset by wheat exports, bond sales to foreign entities, and HP computers etc.,  but I don't care about that.  I only want to know the relative impact of oil imports-exports towards calculating the value of the deficit, so I think it makes sense to think about it that way.  At least I think it makes "engineering sense".