We have a huge trade deficit so we must not be manufacturing the right items. A lot of our so called manufacturing is making Twinkies, Cocoa Puffs, TV dinners and other processed foods. This stuff is almost non existent in China.....What China makes is a truer mix of what we traditionally think of as manufacturing
Germany and Japan are manufacturing super powers yet don’t run trade deficits. They manufacture more high end items and export them
How then do you explain the ISM index?
The 13 manufacturing industries reporting growth in January — listed in order — are: Apparel, Leather & Allied Products; Textile Mills; Machinery; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Transportation Equipment; Paper Products; Nonmetallic Mineral Products; Computer & Electronic Products; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; Wood Products; Fabricated Metal Products; and Plastics & Rubber Products. Furniture & Related Products is the only industry reporting contraction in January.
NOT Twinkies.
The point of this posting was to provide factual data, not conjecture about processed foods.