Where Exports to China Generate Jobs in the U.S.

The Trump administration raised tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese goods late last week, causing China to retaliate Monday morning with 25 percent tariffs on $60 billion in U.S. goods. The world’s two largest economies have now been locked in a tit-for-tat trade war since early 2018, with the end nowhere in sight.

Larry Kudlow, President Trump’s top economic advisors, went on Fox Sunday to warn that both China and the U.S. will pay for the increased cost to global trade. Many experts fear that the extra cost of doing business, will lead to layoffs and price increases as a way for businesses to makeup some of their losses.

Layoffs as a cost cutting option could adversely affect many states that are home to jobs directly supported by exports to China. California has the highest number of jobs that are supported by U.S. exports to China, with over 150,000 jobs in the state relying on Chinese and U.S. trade commerce, according to the U.S. China Business Council. States in the Rust Belt, such as Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan, each have upwards of 25,000 jobs that rely on U.S. exports to China, all of which could be negatively impacted by the icy relationship between the two countries.