Wednesday, April 07, 2010
Chinese Electronics Workers (photo: Maxevis)
The ongoing trade deficit between the United States and China have cost American labor 2.4 million jobs since 2001, according to a new study released by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). The report also revealed that the high-tech industry has been hit especially hard, accounting for more than 25% of the job loss (or 628,000 positions). California, Texas and North Carolina have suffered more than other states—although every state and congressional district in the U.S. has lost jobs to China over the last decade. The districts that lost the most jobs were California-15 (8.3%), California-14 (6.3%) and California-16 (6.0%). EPI calculates that the nation as a whole has lost 1.7% of its total employment to China.
Since China entered the World Trade Organization in 2001, the U.S. trade deficit with the Asian country has risen from $84 billion to $270 billion in 2008. EPI researchers attribute the trade deficit to China’s currency manipulation, as well as its significant industrial subsidies, lax labor and environmental law enforcement, intellectual property theft and piracy, and Chinese trade barriers to U.S. products and services.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Massive U.S. Job Loss to China Trade Shown by State and Congressional District (Alliance for American Manufacturing)
Unfair China Trade Costs Local Jobs (by Robert E. Scott, Economic Policy Institute)
Net Job Loss Due to Growing Trade Deficits with China, 2001-08, By Congressional District (Economic Policy Institute) (pdf)
The China Job Drain (Alliance for American Manufacturing)
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