AAM: Trade with China cost millions of U.S. jobs

The U.S. trade deficit with China cost the U.S. about 3.4 million jobs between 2001, when China entered the World Trade Organization, and 2017, according to a new report prepared by the Economic Policy Institute for the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM).

"Massive job losses caused by trade with China since 2001 overwhelmingly have impacted the manufacturing sector," the AAM said in an Oct. 23 news release. "The growing deficit almost entirely explains why manufacturing employment has not fully recovered along with the rest of the economy since the Great Recession."

The trade deficit with China affects different U.S. regions in different ways, according to the report summary.

"Some regions are devastated by layoffs and factory closings, while others are surviving but not growing the way they could be if new factories were opening and existing plants were hiring more workers," it said.

U.S. computer and electronic parts manufacturing were hurt most by the trade deficit, with more than 1.2 million jobs lost, according to the report.

Textiles and apparel, primary metals, machinery and fabricated metal products also were hard hit, the AAM said. The hardest-hit congressional districts were in Arizona, California, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Oregon and Texas.

"China's cheating on trade has real consequences," said AAM President Scott Paul about the report.

"Americans are expecting leaders, especially candidates from both parties in the upcoming midterm elections, to do something to finally address the massive job loss and work to stabilize our factory communities," Mr. Paul said.