A new report from a liberal think tank says Chinese imports caused the loss of 2.7 million jobs in the United States, including 96,300 in the Mid-South, since the industrializing nation joined the World Trade Organization in 2001. The study by the Washington-based Economic Policy Institute was released Thursday. It contends West Tennessee alone lost 15,300 jobs due to imports from China, including about 4,400 in greater Memphis. "The United States is piling up foreign debt and losing export capacity, and the growing trade deficit with China has been a prime contributor to the crisis in U.S. manufacturing employment," said report author Robert Scott, EPI's manufacturing policy research director. EPI issued the report amid a growing debate about the trade relationship between the United States and China. Notes China Trade, an arm of pro-trade Arizona think tank Kearny Alliance: "From Microsoft and Motorola to Wal-Mart and KFC, there are a number of American and multinational companies that operate in China and are more successful because of it. (And while these companies benefit from manufacturing in China for export elsewhere, they also benefit from selling to China's consumer market.)" Source: The Coming Crisis
