or decades United States has been a major manufacturer of the World consumer goods. Nowadays, many items we buy from the United States are made in China. What are the economic implications of this practice to both countries?

For decades, the United States has produced trillions of dollars in manufactured goods that were destined for domestic consumption and export, thus supplying the world market with products made in America. This production meant that many Americans had employment opportunities in these industries, and that the United States was the main exporter of merchandise in the world.

Today, globalization has diversified world manufacturing production. In the case of America, the relatively high cost of the dollar has made American companies look for cheaper places to produce, such as China or Mexico, where they can produce more units at the same cost as they produce a single unit in America. This has caused many Americans to lose their jobs, and large industrial cities like Detroit to lose large amounts of population. In addition, the United States went from being the main exporter of goods to being the main importer, leaving the first place to China.