AAM: Growing Trade Deficit With China Costs U.S. Jobs

America’s surging trade deficit with China has cost more than 3.2 million U.S. jobs – the overwhelming majority of them in manufacturing – according to a study released today by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). “I am outraged that 3.2 million U.S. jobs have been lost due to the growing trade deficit with...

America’s surging trade deficit with China has cost more than 3.2 million U.S. jobs – the overwhelming majority of them in manufacturing – according to a study released today by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).

“I am outraged that 3.2 million U.S. jobs have been lost due to the growing trade deficit with China," said Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio). "This issue is not new, but it is continuing to choke the American economy and we must act now. Manufacturing is the backbone of our economy, creating an estimated 17.2 million quality jobs nationwide – it is vital that we do everything in our power to protect and grow this important American sector.”

Every congressional district but one has lost net job opportunities since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, the study found.

“This EPI study confirms what our members across the nation know better than anyone about the impact of China’s trade policies,” said Leo W. Gerard, president of the United Steelworkers (USW). “Our represented workers make basic metals, rubber and paper products. Many have paid the price for China’s unfair trade policies and our nation’s inability – or unwillingness – to get them to play by the current rules of global fair trade.”

The EPI study revealed that 2.4 million manufacturing jobs were lost between December 2001 and December 2013, accounting for some two thirds of all U.S. manufacturing jobs lost or displaced during that time.

“This report leaves no doubt, if there ever was any, that the nation’s staggering trade deficit with China continues to be the single biggest impediment to a true jobs recovery, especially in regions with heavy concentrations of high-tech manufacturing,” said Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM).

Global trade in advanced technology products — often cited as a source of comparative advantage for the United States — is now dominated by China. The trade deficit in the computer and electronic parts industry grew the most, resulting in more than 1.2 million jobs lost or displaced. In fact, $154.4 billion of the $324.2 billion U.S. trade deficit with China in 2013 was in computer and electronic parts.

As a result, the report found that many of the hardest-hit areas were in states dense with high-tech manufacturing, such as California, Texas, Oregon, Massachusetts, and Minnesota.

Congressional districts in New York, Georgia, and Illinois were also especially hard hit by trade-related job displacement in a variety of manufacturing industries, including computer and electronic parts, textiles and apparel, and furniture.

The states suffering the worst job losses were California (564,200 jobs), Texas (304,700), New York (179,200), Illinois (132,500), Pennsylvania (122,600), North Carolina (119,600), Florida (115,700), Ohio (106,400), Massachusetts (97,200), and Georgia (93,700).

For more information, visit www.americanmanufacturing.org/research/

More in Supply Chain