Analysis of data posted on the U.S. Department of Commerce's TradeStats Express website shows that U.S. trade imbalances with China accounted for 55.8 percent of the total U.S. trade deficit in manufactured goods for the first half of 2008 compared to 47.2 percent for the first half of 2007.
The U.S. government's statistics show that under the NAICS classification system for "all manufactured goods" that China accounted for $123,027,407,000 (55.8 percent) of the $220,378,317,000 total U.S. trade deficit in manufactured goods for the first half of 2008. For the first half of 2007, China accounted for $120,675,264,000 (47.2 percent) of the $255,609,211,000 deficit.
"The fact that a single country now accounts for more than half of the U.S. trade deficit in manufactured goods should be sounding alarm bells for the presidential candidates and the Congress," said American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition (AMTAC) Executive Director Auggie Tantillo. "China brazenly is cheating to seize this market share and the U.S. government has failed to respond effectively," he continued.
"It should not surprise anyone that the United States is running such a huge, job-destroying trade deficit with China when that country gives substantial competitive advantages to its producers such as the imposition and rebating of value-added taxes, illegal currency manipulation, and a host of other illegal subsidy programs," Tantillo added.
"Rather than ducking the China trade deficit issue on the campaign trail, both presidential candidates need to start talking in detailed specifics on how they plan to stop China from cheating and to boost U.S. manufacturing jobs and output. Only then will the American people know that the presidential candidates are serious about fixing the U.S. economy," Tantillo concluded.
American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition (AMTAC)
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