Poll: What percentage of U.S. spending goes to purchasing goods made in China?

What poll question???

 

You should have split your options at different points. Depending on which source you use, the answer is in one of two options.

 

Misleading question. It only asks about goods. The article specifically states goods and services. Of course (most of) the money you spend for a Big Mac doesn't end up in China.

However, durable goods and clothing have much higher figures.

 

I find the article a bit misleading. I think the percentage is much higher.

Walk through a store and it's very hard to find anything, Made in the USA.

 

right, % of goods is much higher. although, i did manage to find some socks made in sri lanka.

 

Avg. price per goods would be a helpful metric here; I suspect US mfgd goods would be more expensive item for item because our labor costs are higher overall than the exporting giants (except Japan). So while, say, 60% of expenditure is for USA items, & 40% for imported items, the numbers of purchased items will have a different distrubution - say 40% for USA items & 60% for imported ones. In other words, two out of three times you buy something it'll be imported, but the third purchase you make of a USA item will cost more than what you paid for the two imported items combined.

 

Just because the product does not say "made in China" does not mean that China is not part of the supply chain. My second objection to this article is bundling 'services' with goods. The services sector is a zero sum game for GDP.

You can see the flaws in their methods if you think about shoes as an example. One pair is made in China and sold as a no-name for $10, while the exact same pair is branded by a US firm and sells for $30. The $20 difference is not local self-sustainable economy.

 

US GDP is about 14,000 billion $/yr, of which 70% is domestic consumption. Call it 9800 Billion $
Us import from China is 390 Billion, 0f which 90 B is 'power generating equipment' I think that solar panels are not in that category, so I'll remove it, leaving 300 Billion $.

So I get just a shade over 3%. If the poll had been broken at 4% instead of 3% I could tick the lowest box. But ticking the 3 to 30% box is not satisfying. So, I go with 3% and you can all see the extend to which I am deceiving you.

... (later)

OK, so I used different data sources. Numbers come out different, but not alarmingly so.

By the way, Chinese cheese is almost entirely yuck. Land-O-Lakes (not top notch, but acceptable) costs 39 Yuan here in the 200-gram size. That's 6 bucks, people! You can't even buy India Pale Ale. So count yer blessings for those US-made products at OK prices.

OTOH I can buy a digital voltmeter for 8 bucks. Brand name is "Fuke"; a clever melange of Fluke and Fake. Some may appreciate the humor.

 

I believe that you would be hard pressed to find anyone who actually believes this laughable attempt to misconstrue the truth. Just a glance through the comments section says it all. The greater public IMO simply no longer finds traditional propaganda outlets like the LA Times relevant. We've moved on.

 

That's it in a nutshell. A VERY misleading article.

 

we should make China the 51st state

 

Perhaps in some cases, but is it not also true that in "hard times" people are less likely to be as tolerant of things that they have long found to be menacing? Many of us knew that Red China was going to be a problem before they were ever admitted into the WTO. And the American Dream is about opportunity. A sold out and subverted nation will not hold such ideals indefinitely. In that regard, I tend to agree with the leftists- we are a phantom going through a slow exorcism.

 

here what I have problem within article: if good is made in China, sold wholesale to US for $1, and then resold in Walmart for $10, $9 counts as "US" and $1 as "China", score 9:1.

One can only wonder when Chinese will figure out how to use internet and cut out middle man.

Disclaimer: just ordered batteries for camcorder, $15 off flee-bay, from Hong Kong including shipping. Amazon price $50, retail $69. Not sure how to count it either way since Pansonic makes batteries in China.

 

A major reason to boycott Walmart.

 

The way things are going, we will become the 24th Province of China before that happens.

 

I am buying more small stuff direct from China, including through fleaBay. On the approximately 15% of the time that what I receive isn't satisfactory, I just throw it out and still am far ahead of the game. If I am going to buy Chinese I see no reason to overpay someone to overcharge me.