[cba123]

Very impressive.

I have been to China. I know the country, at least I did. Somewhat. I have not been there in quite a while now.

China is great. I really enjoyed working there. That was back when it first opened to the outside world, very early.

But China doesn’t import.

It just doesn’t import. That is a problem, and nobody has said to China “hey, you need to import things from America”.

Nobody.

Everyone is busy “cashing in”, but nobody is saying China needs to buy things also.

That is becoming a huge problem.

Trump gets that. He seems to be the first American president who does.

Ever.

[vannrox]

I live in China. I have been here for at least the last 15 years. China imports. You should see all the Harley Davidson motorcycles in Shanghai...

Most Chicken is imported from the USA. Much of the imported rice comes from Arkansas.

You are correct, China could import more, but to import you need to have an export market. Not too many things get exported out the USA, except for planes and food it seems. Why is this so...?

[Wayne07]

The numbers aren't a secret, China imports a ton from the US. > 100 billion. The problem is that they export 4 times that to the US.

The U.S. trade deficit with China was $367 billion in 2015 This is a new record, up slightly from last year's record of $343 billion. The trade deficit exists because U.S. exports to China were only $116.2 billion while imports from China hit a new record of $483.9 billion.

https://www.thebalance.com/u-s-china-trade-deficit-causes-effects-and-solutions-3306277

[DiogenesLamp]

But China doesn’t import.

It just doesn’t import. That is a problem, and nobody has said to China “hey, you need to import things from America”.

Exactly why the British started sending Opium to China. Exactly what caused the Opium wars and the subsequent collapse of China.

They don't play well with others, probably because they consider the rest of us inferior.

[AndyJackson]

But China doesn’t import.

This is the "trade" part that is missing in "free trade." And without trade it is not "free trade." It's using your cheap labor to rot out the economies of those who believe they are practicing "free trade" when they are not.

[katana]

Things have changed a bit since you were last there, if you're talking about the early days pf the country's opening (under Deng I assume). I'm speaking from the perspective of someone who's sold and exported medical goods to China. If you have a product they want and that they cannot economically copy ... yet ... with a trademark they can't easily forge they will import it. The PRC is Mercedes Benz's number one export market.

An even greater obstacle to entry than their tariffs or other barriers is the controlled exchange rate for the Yuan and the still extremely low wage rates that put foreign goods far out of the reach of all but a tiny minority of consumers. In terms of de jure import barriers India is far more closed and difficult but they aren't a Communist state and growing military threat to their neighbors and us, nor the manufacturing behemoth that China's become. So unless you're trying to sell something there few notice or care.

[thinden]

America’s biggest export product to the chinese (and other countries) is US Treasury notes & bonds.