Table 1

U.S.-China trade and job displacement, 2001–2011

Change ($billions) Percent change
2001 2008 2011 2001–2011 2008–2011 2001–2011
U.S. trade with China ($billions, nominal)
U.S. domestic exports* 18.0 67.2 96.9 78.9 29.7 439.6%
U.S. imports for consumption 102.1 337.5 398.5 296.4 61.0 290.4%
U.S. trade balance -84.1 -270.3 -301.6 -217.5 -31.2 258.5%
Average annual change in the trade balance -21.7 -10.4 13.6%
Change (thousands of jobs) Percent change
U.S. trade-related jobs supported and displaced (thousands of jobs)
U.S. domestic exports-jobs
supported
169.4 547.9 707.4 538.0 159.5 317.7%
U.S. imports for consumption-jobs displaced 1,139.5 3,598.1 4,419.7 3,280.2 821.6 287.9%
U.S. trade deficit-net jobs displaced 970.1 3,050.2 3,712.3 2,742.2 662.1 282.7%
Average annual change in net jobs displaced 274.2 220.7 14.4%

* Domestic exports are goods produced in the United States and exclude re-exports, i.e., goods produced in other countries and shipped through the United States. Total exports as reported by the U.S. International Trade Commission include re-exports. Total exports were estimated to be $103.9 billion in 2011, and U.S. re-exports to China represent 6.72% of total exports. The employment estimates shown here are based on domestic exports only. See endnotes nine and 10 for additional details.

Source: Author's analysis of U.S. Census Bureau (2009), U.S. International Trade Commission (2012), and Bureau of Labor Statistics Office of Employment Projections (2011a and 2011b). For a more detailed explanation of data sources and computations, see the Appendix.

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