First, Thork, the national debt and trade deficits are not the same thing. I assume you know that but just throwing that out there. One can have no trade deficits with anyone and still run a massive national debt. Also vice versa: you can have no national debt but still run massive trade deficits.
The reason we have such a high trade deficit with China is because we like cheap shit and China offers to make our TVs, computers, clothes, and toys for a fraction of the cost it is to make it in America and most of the world. China supplies the cheap labor, America buys it. This is good for both nations. The American people get cheap manufactured goods and China gets to employ hundreds of thousands of people in horrible conditions with wages that aren't exactly great.
By enacting higher tarrifs, America may have a few steel workers with their jobs back, but so what? Every other industry that relies on steel and aluminum is going to suffer and they'll cut back. Maybe you gain 4,000 jobs in the steel and aluminum market but lose 10,000 elsewhere due to lower demand or higher costs. Remember: When you need to cut costs and your materials just went up, cut labor before you raise prices. Hell, your soda and beer cans are gonna go up in price.
Worse yet, manufacturing that comes back has a really good chance of just being autoamted. There aren't empty factories where toys and clothing used to be made that are just waiting for people to come back. All that manufacturing will need new buildings and if you're gonna spend the money to build a factory, might as well make it as automated as possible. So all the jobs you think you'll get back, you won't.
In the end, everything will be more expensive, people will have less work, and no one will be able to do anything about it.
Also:
China has a realllly good reason to keep proping up our economy by buying bonds: We're a huge customer for them. If our economy collapses, they go with us and they know it. In fact, starting a trade war with them is going to make it harder for them to justify propping our economy up. Especially if we stop making it worth their wild by providing a good market for their goods.
What America needs to do is stop thinking it's some great manufacturing nation and focus on Food and Services.