The China Trade Toll

Posted by SCapozzola on July 30th, 2008

2.3 Million Jobs Lost to China since 2001;  Replacement Jobs Pay Substantially Less, Data Shows; U.S. Advanced Technology Sector Hit Hard by Trade Deficit with China

AAM has just released a report noting that the increasing U.S. trade deficit with China has cost 2.3 million American jobs between 2001 and 2007, including 366,000 last year alone.  The study, authored by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), found that displaced workers lost an average of $8,146 in 2007, a total of $19.4 billion, as they moved to lower-paying jobs.

Workers producing exports are not doing as well as those who were clobbered by imports, the EPI study reveals. U.S. exports to China are heavily commodities, including scrap products and agricultural goods, while 98 percent of Chinese imports were manufactured products, and average wages earned producing U.S. exports to China paid 4.4 percent less than jobs lost to imports from China.  Thus, continuing trade deficits with China are shifting jobs from higher-wage manufacturing to low-wage commodities.

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The report has already received widespread coverage throughout the U.S.  Reuters noted that the report is “likely to fuel debate about free trade ahead of the November elections.”  On the Daily Kos, Tasini notes that the data in the report presents “a crucial link in the collapse of a decent economic future for Americans.”

Read the full report here.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 30th, 2008 at 11:37 pm and is filed under Holding China Accountable, AAM. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “The China Trade Toll”

  1. Bob Hall Says:
    July 31st, 2008 at 6:39 am

    Thank you for such a valuable piece of work.

    I don’t expect much cooperation from our governments or multinationals, and I’m afraid most Americans are resistant to facts and figures.

    I might suggest an artistic, emotional approach to help convey our message. The powerful “Dollar to the Giant” video on YouTube is proving effective at connecting people with the importance of manufacturing and the reality of our relationship with China.

    Here’s the URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUj8leZxmK8

  2. Cynthia Wineburgh Says:
    August 10th, 2008 at 12:46 am

    Thanks for publicizing this! I linked to it from Jonathan Tasini’s blog. Glad to see that (once again) Jared Bernstein & Economic Policy Institute are getting the facts out, like few others are at this time. In my area, suburban Dayton, people are still blaming the middle class for “overspending,” while saying nothing about the huge decrease in tax collections from the rich since Reagan era, and very little about job losses, except to say we need “retraining” (at age 55, and with 34 years’ work experience, bachelor’s degree, some grad school - why is it MY fault there is only one job that pays a living wage in my area?)

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