Growing China Trade Deficit Cost 3.7 Million American Jobs Between 2001 and 2018

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Jobs lost in every U.S. state and congressional district

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The growth of the U.S. trade deficit with China almost entirely explains why manufacturing employment has not fully recovered along with the rest of the economy. Between 2001 and 2018, 3.7 million U.S. jobs were lost.

Three-fourths (75.4%) of those jobs were in manufacturing, with the computer and electronic parts industry bearing the brunt, as 1.34 million jobs were lost during this time period. The growing trade deficit with China cost jobs in all 50 states and every single congressional district.

But the deficit isn’t just causing job loss; it’s also leading to a reduction in wages. Between 2001 and 2011, the growing China trade deficit reduced the income of directly impacted workers by $37 billion per year. In 2011 alone, all U.S. non-college graduates saw their wages reduced by $180 billion as a result of growing competition with imports from China and other low-wage countries.

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The Takeaways

  1. The growing trade deficit with China has cost jobs in all 50 states and in every congressional district in the United States.

  2. The trade deficit in the computer and electronic parts industry grew the most: more than 1.3 million jobs were lost in that industry, accounting for approximately 36% of the 2001–2018 total jobs lost.

  3. Between 2001 and 2011 alone, growing trade deficits with China reduced the incomes of directly impacted workers by $37 billion per year.

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