From USA TODAY:
…Research this month from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco shows that for every dollar spent on a China-made item, 55 cents go to U.S. businesses for services such as marketing and sales. Last year, 2.7% of U.S. consumer spending went to products made in China, according to the study.
The findings may surprise U.S. consumers, given the widespread belief that the most spending is on foreign-made items, says Bart Hobijn, a senior research adviser at the San Francisco Fed who co-wrote the report with economist Galina Hale. “But consumer spending means a lot more than going shopping,” he says. “If you get a haircut, pay your electricity bill, go to the movies, that’s all part of consumption.”
The research comes amid heated debate about the value of foreign-made goods as the U.S. unemployment rate — which dipped slightly to 9.1% in July after rising for three consecutive months — remains high. The data underscore the complex nature of the U.S.-China trade relationship, and how interlinked the countries’ economies have become…
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EDITOR: The 55% also applies to our sales to China. One way or another, we must export an equal amount of goods and services to what we import in order to avoid a trade deficit and incurring more debt.
