Earlier this week, an interview with Donald Trump on Fox & Friends made headlines all over the world. During that interview, Trump stated that he was “absolutely thinking about” running for president in 2012. But what didn’t get as much attention is why Donald Trump is so motivated to possibly run for president. It turns out that Donald Trump is horrified by how China (and other nations as well) are absolutely taking advantage of the United States in global trade. Trump put it this way during the interview: “China is just ripping this country like nobody has ever ripped us before.” And you know what? Donald Trump is absolutely right about this. You see, China has been openly manipulating its currency for years and years so that their products are far cheaper than those produced in America. This has put entire industries out of business in the United States. Not only that, but China also openly subsidizes many of their industries, thus giving them a competitive advantage over U.S. businesses and our government does nothing about it. In addition, China has exploited the fact that they allow their workers to be paid near slave labor wages to attract thousands upon thousands of factories and manufacturing facilities to their shores. China dumps massive amounts of cheap goods on our shores while openly discriminating against many U.S. good and services. This kind of unfair trade has enabled the Chinese government to pile up hundreds of billions of dollars in excess currency reserves which it ends up lending back to the U.S. government. Basically, China is running a massive scam on us and is getting tremendously wealthy in the process.
The following video contains the interview with Donald Trump on Fox & Friends where he announces that he is considering a run for the presidency and where he expresses his deep concerns about China….
Sadly, Donald Trump is not exaggerating one bit when he says that China is ripping this country like nobody has ever ripped us before. What they are getting away with is absolutely mind blowing when you really stop and think about it….
#1 China has been manipulating their currency for years. It is estimated that the Chinese government is keeping China’s currency at a value about 40 percent lower than what it should be. This is essentially a de facto subsidy to China’s exporters.
#2 This year, the U.S. trade deficit has usually been about 40 to 50 billion dollars a month. Approximately half of that is with China.
#3 The United States spends about $3.90 on Chinese goods for every $1 that China spends on goods from the United States.
#4 American workers now find themselves in direct competition for jobs with workers in China that makes less than a tenth of what an American worker would make. In China a garment worker makes approximately 86 cents an hour. Apple iPhones are manufactured in China by workers making about 293 dollars a month (and that was after a big raise).
#5 In 2008, 1.2 billion cellphones were sold around the world. So how many of those cellphones were manufactured inside the United States? Zero.
#6 Between 2000 and 2009, America’s trade deficit with China increased nearly 300 percent.
#7 As of the end of July, the U.S. trade deficit with China had risen 18 percent compared to the same time period a year ago.
#8 A substantial percentage of China’s largest corporations are either fully or partially government-owned and are thus subsidized by the Chinese government.
#9 According to the U.S. Trade Representative’s 2010 National Trade Estimate, the Chinese government openly discriminates against farm goods and services which are made in America.
#10 It is incredibly difficult for U.S. businesses to set up in China, but for Chinese companies that want to do business inside the United States there are very few barriers.
#11 The House National Security Oversight Subcommittee recently heard testimony from a number of experts that told them that the rapid decline of manufacturing in the United States has resulted in America losing its edge in numerous industries that are absolutely vital to national security.
#12 China has now become the leading supplier of components that are critical to the operation of U.S. defense systems.
#13 China now has nearly a complete and total monopoly on rare earth elements. Today, if China totally cut off the supply of rare earth elements, we would pretty much have no hybrid car batteries, flat screen televisions, cell phones or iPods. Not only that, but rare earth elements are also used by the U.S. military in radar systems, missile-guidance systems, satellites and aircraft electronics.
#14 Since 2001, approximately 42,400 American factories have closed their doors, and about 75 percent of them employed more than 500 workers while they were still in operation.
#15 According to a disturbing new study by the Economic Policy Institute, if the trade deficit with China continues to increase at its current rate, the U.S. economy will lose over half a million jobs this year alone.
#16 Dell Inc., once one of largest manufacturers of computers in the United States, has announced plans to dramatically expand its operations in China with an investment of over $100 billion over the next decade.
#17 Dell Inc. has announced that it will be shutting down its last large U.S. manufacturing facility in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in November. Approximately 900 good paying jobs will be lost.
#18 As of the end of 2009, less than 12 million Americans worked in manufacturing. The last time that less than 12 million Americans were employed in manufacturing was in 1941.
#19 According to a new study conducted by Thompson Reuters, China is likely to become the world’s leader in patent filings by next year.
#20 All of this new affluence is allowing the Chinese government to dramatically upgrade and modernize its military.
#21 One prominent economist is now projecting that the Chinese economy will be three times larger than the U.S. economy by the year 2040.