America is actually manufacturing more than ever, so America might be something after all.
Let's see absolute numbers, of the actual #s of widgets by industry, before and after, to get a real comparison, not deceptive dollar amounts of the final sales.
The trade deficit is not appearing out of thin air. So let's get "real":
I.e.,
How many desktop computers?
Laptops?
Monitors?
Televisions?
Printers?
Scanners?
Fax machines?
Telephones?
Cell phones?
Lamps?
Furniture.
Light bulbs?
Hand tools?
Machine tools?
Electric Motors?
Transformers?
Magnets?
Railroad Locomotives?
Diesel Engines?
Heavy Construction Machinery?
Ships?
Maritime Cranes?
Forklifts?
Planes?
Steel?
Copper?
Aluminum?
Jet engines?
Titanium?
In some areas we indeed may actually be making more. Great.
But for a realistic policy evaluation...we need to get a real sense of the forest for the trees here. And I suggest that the trade deficit gives you a better idea of the forest...than those few trees of the singular good performers.