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Visualizing the US-China Trade Relationship (INFOGRAPHIC)

mint.com — The plastic US flags that say Made in China don’t tell the whole story. No, not everything is made in China. In fact the US manufactures and exports almost as much as China but it consumes a great deal more. Hence, the trade imbalance.

Who dugg this? Made popular May 1, 2009

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  • FreckleEars, on 05/01/2009, -4/+41I love how China (1,321,000,000 pop) imports just about 0.5% more to the US than Canada (33,000,000pop).

    Most people do not realize that even though China makes lots of little products (clothes, crappy electronics, toys, etc) that you see every day, Canada imports things that you NEED. We give you wheat, dairy, meat, building materials (wood), raw materials (iron ore, oil, nickle), and electricity. Lucky for us Canadians, you Americans trade us lots of stuff too (cars, entertainment, high end industrial technology etc). We really do have a great trade relationship between the US and Canada =).

    It is kind of sad though how even though the US and China export about the same amount in dollar value, the ratio between each other is almost 5:1 in favor of China. I guess China doesn't need or want what the US has to offer.
  • holyskeleton, on 05/01/2009, -0/+16US import almost as much from Canada as from China with only 2 billion difference. China doesn't import as much from the US because they don't import much to begin with. Many Americans live in a standard of 4 bdrm houses, two cars and thousand dollar appliances with mortgages and loans while many Chinese live in a standard of 2 bdrm apartment with 2 bicycles and other cheap stuff with pure cash. Comparing the macro flow is like comparing apples to watermelons.
  • brbeaird, on 05/01/2009, -0/+16Great graphic. I had no idea we traded that much with Canada, just barely under China. It's also interesting that our exports aren't that far below China's, considering the wage difference in workforces; we just buy a lot more stuff than they do. And $7 billion of soybeans? Really?
  • oo7evan, on 05/01/2009, -0/+11It will be interesting to see China's trade balance as their huge middle class continues to grow and whether or not other countries can capitalize on it.
  • FreckleEars, on 05/01/2009, -0/+11"(iron ore, oil, nickle)" No I never =P.
  • moghua, on 05/01/2009, -0/+11"I had no idea we traded that much with Canada"

    Sadly, most Americans don't, which is why we in Canada get really pissed off when your politicians continue to repeat myths like "9/11 terrorists entered through Canada" in order to support restricting the border. Ignorance like that could cost huge numbers of people their jobs on both sides of the border.
  • devildog1775, on 05/01/2009, -0/+8Actually trading with other nations is a positive sum gain, raises standards of living in both countries. Eco101 we should import products which we are least efficient at making and export those that we are least worst at producing. Our nation is capital abundant so we export goods which are capital intensive and import goods which are labor intensive from labor abundant countries (like China) where labor is relatively cheap.
  • eastwood24, on 05/01/2009, -2/+10I couldn't help but notice, with the exception of my comp. mouse (Canada) and mouse pad (Taiwan - soon to be China :)) everything on my work desk was made in China. Especially all the cheap crap like staplers and paper clip holders.

    oh wait, wait, my hand sanitizer was made in St. Louis...USA USA.

  • FreckleEars, on 05/01/2009, -1/+8Not really Canada so much. We trade pretty well with each other. It is very mutual (aside form a few disputes). Our trade ratio is around 6:5 in favor of Canada. We are long standing allies so any dollar deficit on either end is comparable to one best friend owing another one some money. We do enough for each other in the long run that a few billion here and there are no biggie =P.

    That being said... I hated Prime Minister Harper trying to blow EX-President Bush to keep him happy. Everything should be mutual, not lopsided to keep the bigger angrier friend who has more guns than you happy.
  • Bloake, on 05/01/2009, -6/+12Hello future United States of China.
  • JCEEZ, on 05/01/2009, -0/+5Most of the interior of China is mountains and desert.
  • hawk0168, on 05/01/2009, -1/+6Canada's number one export to the US: hockey players.
    Jerks with your longer time frame for outdoor rinks. Cheaters I say.
  • mibi, on 05/01/2009, -0/+4Yeah, a lot of people think we are China's bitch. But we have trade deficits with many nations, Canada included.

  • akula89, on 05/01/2009, -0/+4mint.com is sweet.
  • sndream, on 05/01/2009, -0/+4It's interesting that the bulk of China's trade surplus come from US and EU while China have a large deficit with the rest of Asia especially Japan and South Korea.

    I wonder how much of this trade deficit between western countries and China is due to policy that limits technological export to China.
  • Ajjah, on 05/01/2009, -0/+4Dugg for Mint
  • oo7evan, on 05/01/2009, -1/+5That might be true, but you can't always make money from ideas, especially if other cultures like China don't believe in a patent system, so they just take the idea, copy it, and spit out their actual product based on the idea. The same goes with generic drugs.
  • cplusplus, on 05/01/2009, -0/+3Way to go soybeans!
  • jeremymccurdy, on 05/01/2009, -0/+3Then there was the softwood lumber thing, and the mad cow scare...
  • jumpenjack, on 05/01/2009, -0/+3if it costs cheaper to import it i'm going to import it.that's basic economics, and it only results in a benefit for both countries.
  • MrSteamTank, on 05/01/2009, -1/+4Canada is simply an extension of the United States. We're basically a gigantic territory full of natural resources which we export south of the border. We talk alike, we watch the same shows, we have the same culture, our borders are almost completely open, and 80% of our exports go to the US. Seriously, there are no other nations I'm aware of in the world that are so similar and get along so well with each other.

    Don't get me wrong though. I like Canada being independant as it saves us from the stupidity that many of the southern states imposes upon the northern states. Regardless, I'm sure I'll get dugg down by the Canucks who think otherwise.
  • idontlikeyou2, on 05/01/2009, -0/+3Stop buying chinese goods than.
  • itsmikey, on 05/01/2009, -0/+2The rise of china's middle class could make things really interesting..
  • JCEEZ, on 05/01/2009, -0/+2which is sorta ironic, tofu!
  • kefkaantakrist, on 05/01/2009, -3/+5If they try to secede, will they succeed?
  • JCEEZ, on 05/01/2009, -0/+2Comparative Advantage.

    If we spend our time and energy manufacturing t-shirts and staplers, that's less resourses allocated to computers and airplanes.

    "An automobile is still the single most difficult thing to manufacture." riiiiiight....
  • mikbunn, on 05/01/2009, -5/+7China and the U.S. don't share a border. It's pretty expensive to ship lumber, dairy, and iron ore across the Pacific.
  • secrity, on 05/03/2009, -0/+2That is hard to do; almost everything sold in stores now is made in China.
  • diggimator, on 05/02/2009, -0/+2direct link to the map: http://www.mint.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/0 ...
  • mibi, on 05/01/2009, -0/+2America number one!
  • IKORKYI, on 05/01/2009, -0/+2GThrift that is stupid

    we want to keep jobs for our citizens. we should import as much cheap stuff as possible. exporting is based on the fact that our standard of living is greater (increased labor rates) so we only export things that tend not to be able to be produced somewhere else. we're not beating anyone on price here. so, you're either suggesting that we lower importing and A) either give people lower paying jobs, or B) pay more for things, or increase exporting which would give people lower paying jobs to compete in a world market.

    we're not going to even out our import/export ratio with china unless we are willing to decrease our standard of living to theirs.

    who wants to do that?

    you.

  • monkeyrun, on 05/01/2009, -0/+2we import 2.19 Trillion and exports 1.48 Trillion?

    Seriously, China is the problem? Maybe the problem is we don't make ***** people want to buy anymore.
  • somnus, on 05/01/2009, -1/+3This infographic says otherwise. Over 2 Trillion in Imports and less than 1.5 Trillion in Exports.
  • Hetman, on 05/01/2009, -0/+2You could not resist bringing up the nwo could you?
  • somnus, on 05/01/2009, -0/+2And comedians.
  • damack, on 05/01/2009, -0/+2Keep in mind China is significantly much more self sufficient than a lot of people know.

    They make a lot of their own goods and sell them in house since they make more profit that way.

    A lot of whats manufactured in China is only manufactured there because it's cheap to do so. The Chinese people and the goverment are paid as little as possible but the Chinese learn from these manufacturing processes and use them in their own country.

    Youd be surprised what you can buy in China and the majority of it is not name brands but generic brands.
  • ddhillon, on 05/01/2009, -0/+2What's the conclusion?
  • ramseypawlik, on 05/01/2009, -1/+3IF YOU DON'T LIKE US GET OFF OUR INTERNETS!
  • inactive, on 05/02/2009, -0/+1More like environmental devastation on a global scale
  • svendm, on 05/02/2009, -0/+1If you have an _overall_ trade deficit, it means you're spending more money than you're bringing in. That would indeed be something to be worried about.
  • grzelakc, on 05/02/2009, -0/+1This only holds for maybe 0.1% of the US population who truly do inventive work. Most are either pen pushers of one sort or another or peddlers of the only product the US still makes in humongous quantities: cholesterol.
  • randumbusername, on 05/02/2009, -0/+1i agree. the dumb (according to digg) 2nd highest gdp state couldn't possibly make it outside the union.
  • seansu4you87, on 09/15/2009, -0/+1if you actually go to china, i think you might begin to see the excessive western influence there
  • unboring, on 05/02/2009, -0/+1@ mrsteamtank,

    politically canada is far left of the usa, even today our conservative party is more liberal then even liberal democrats in the states. We are also a commonwealth parliment country and our political system is very different. We also have pretty much 5 major parties which is also very unique. We have a more european brand of socialist capitalism with great bank regulation which has kept us out of the worst of the global recession. We are also a very secular country, while the us is technically secular sometimes you have to wonder with the GOP's pandering to the religious right. We have a jewish prime minister!!! We also are a lot more socially liberal, gay marriages for all and marijuana decriminalization! maybe we will even legalize pot with the next liberal government.

    while i agree that our countries share a lot in common, we certainly have a very seperate identity, I am happy for our differences, I'm glad to live in a very multi cultural toronto, I love the comparatively low gun violence. I love that i can smoke a spliff on a busy downtown street without being slammed down by state troopers on cops. I love that we have marriage equality nation wide. I love our health care for all. I love our parliament and our political system.
  • FortyCaliber, on 05/01/2009, -0/+1Manufacturing in this instance refers to large scale tramsition from raw material to finished product. Autos are a good example of this. T-shirts are not. Boll -> Cotton -> thread -> bolt -> t-shirt ... not that difficult, nor is the cost to profit margin that big, nor is the demand for such things, very high. I'm talking about large, mechanical, devices, like cars, trucks, trains, planes, boats, etc... basically things that move an economy. Computers are built by computers. Wage workers in Taiwan press the button to solder the boards. Computers build computers... which makes them easy to produce.

    Automobiles are still the most difficult thing to manufacture because of their use of raw materials, complex assembly requirements.
    Granted a GE Jet turbine is more complex and more difficult to assemble than a Ford 5.4L V8... but the airplane manufacturing comes from automobile manufacturing, always in that order, never before.

    Also, you forget that making airplanes is pointless when the Gov't (Airforce) decides to give a contract to Airbus instead of Boeing when they conceded that Boeing made a superior product.
  • orsinoduke, on 05/01/2009, -0/+1Just find some new things that Chinese can actually buy from the America. The top 5 things Chinese are importing from US are: soybean, semiconductors, civilian aircraft, plastic materials, copper. ...
  • FortyCaliber, on 05/01/2009, -0/+1I put it in easy-to-uunderstand terms for digg users
  • deathcapt, on 05/01/2009, -0/+1Canada Supplies America with more than %50 of it's oil. /thread.

    The real myth is that we need middle eastern oil. The only reason why gas doesn't cost $0.10 a liter in Canada is because we can sell it @ $0.80 a liter to the states.
  • deathcapt, on 05/01/2009, -0/+1God I hope we can start capitalizing on it. We gotta sell them something... I think Curbing software piracy in china might be a sweet cash cow. If M$ can somehow get the chinese to buy legal licenses for windows that'll even the trade deficit.
  • deathcapt, on 05/01/2009, -0/+1I have no objections to this.
    As a Canadian, I don't really have anything against our relationship with the states. The cultures are slightly different. While many things are very similar, there are distinct differences in the countries, but no more than the difference between various provinces and states. The biggest difference I would say is in the political spectrum, as a State has much more control than a province in Canada.
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