Kudos to The Atlantic's Jordan Weissman for pointing out that some fears about U.S. jobs being shipped to China are valid.  Weissman says that since China has transformed itself into the world's top exporter, it has moved up the value chain and is exporting not just "light goods and electronics" but "large, high-margin goods such as ships, locomotives, and construction equipment."

Weissman points to the massive government subsidies that Chinese firms receive in order to out compete the U.S. including "$2.5 billion from the government this year to improve technology and product quality." 

Weissman says this "should be of some concern to U.S. policy makers":

Heavy machinery and transportation equipment are at the heart of the U.S. industrial base. They're part of our Big Six manufacturing sectors, along with food, chemicals, electronics, and metal products. These are businesses where labor is a relatively small part of the overall cost of making the product, and where America's technologically advanced factories have traditionally given us an edge. If they founder, there's not much left to replace them.

Very true.

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