[sdiy] OT: Chinese goods

[Bruce Duncan]

I think the key is in the following paragraph

A total of 88.5% of U.S. consumer spending is on items made in the 
United States. This is largely because services, which make up about 
two-thirds of spending, are mainly produced locally.
The market share of foreign goods is highest in durables, which include 
cars and electronics. Two-thirds of U.S. durables consumption goes for 
goods labeled “Made in the USA,” while the other third goes for goods 
made abroad.

We assume naturally that food,housing and services will be provided 
locally and are the bulk of expenditures and so only notice the origins 
of the durables we consume.
If you take these figures in the larger context then yes imports from 
China are only a small fraction of GDP but from a durable manufacturing
perspective the numbers are huge.

I get my circuit boards from Malaysia because the local shops I have 
dealt with are not as good quality and the price is twice as much.
Also a lot of supposed local shops are just middle men for offshore 
manufactures.
As long as I spend 88.5% of my income locally I don't feel bad about 
buying boards from Asia.

Just wait till someone in China hears that modular synthesizers are 
popular in the west :)

Bruce