Not too long ago on the occasion of my birthday, I was presented with a balloon, as well as other gifts. Unfortunately, the balloon did not last long. It escaped out the door wall and headed to the skies. My son pulled out his bb gun and shot it down.
It was that simple. Over the weekend all the talk on television, Twitter and elsewhere was the Chinese spy balloon that was floating over the United States. What was China’s motivation for launching it? Should we shoot it down or let it be? The great majority of American people surveyed thought we should have shot it down in Alaska or Montana, but instead we let it float eastward across the continental U.S.
The inaction on the part of our government reminds me of the lack of concern over the trade deficit we have with China. Like the spy balloon, our government chooses to allow that deficit to grow and grow, much to the detriment of our country’s wellbeing.
The U.S. trade summary reveals the depth of our trade with China.
In 2021, U.S. exports to China were $151.1 billion, a 21.4% ($26.6 billion) increase from 2020; U.S. imports from China were $506.4 billion, a 16.5% ($71.6 billion) increase; and the trade deficit with China was $355.3 billion, a 14.5% ($45.0 billion) increase from $310.3 billion in 2020.
China was the United States’ third-largest trade partner in2021.
In 2021, 8.6% of total U.S. exports of $1.8 trillion were exported to China and 17.9% of total U.S. imports of $2.8 trillion were imported from China.
Mechanical Appliances, Sound Recorders and TV sets were the most traded commodity sectors. In the last five years, U.S. exports of those commodities show an upward trend from $25 billion in 2017 to $36.1 billion in 2021. The percentages of imports of those commodities from China out of total imports from the World are impressive with 37.0% in 2017 and 29.3% in 2021.
In 2021, U.S. exports of Agricultural Products to China continue to show an upward trend. In 2021, U.S. exports of Agriculture Products were $31.6 billion, an increase of 27.5% ($6.8 billion) from $24.8 billion in 2020.
In 2021, China remained the major source of U.S. imports of Textile Products. In 2021, U.S. imports of $50.3 billion of Textile Products from China constituted 32.6% of the total U.S. imports of Textile products.
Additionally, in 2021, China remained the major source of U.S. imports of Furniture, Bedding, Lamps, Toys, Games, Sports Equipment, Paint, and other Miscellaneous Manufactured Items. In 2021, the U.S. imports of $68.5 billion of Miscellaneous Manufactured Items from China constituted 53.2% of total U.S. imports of those commodities. Source: Government info data
What can we do about China? Try to buy products not made in China. You have to shop but it’s possible. Shrinking the cash flow to China is crucial to reducing their growing economic and military power.
And may I suggest to our leaders- next time China invades our air space with a spy balloon, don’t hesitate- shoot the thing out of the sky. Maybe then we might gain some respect from an adversary seeking world dominance.
Really? Buy something else is your solution? China isn’t the problem – our greed is. Reigning in exorbitant corporate profits that benefit only executives and shareholders would be a good start. That’s the reason most of this production gravitated overseas to begin with. And the whole “shoot it down” is so knee jerk that it’s ludicrous. Respect for the US from adversaries (and allies for that matter) went down the tubes when we elected a “leader” who had more respect for them than his owm people.