The venerable Economic Policy Institute (EPI) just released a report penned by Robert Scott showing Wal-Mart's Chinese imports have displaced nearly 200,000 U.S. jobs.

Exports support jobs in the United States, and imports displace them. However, an increase in exports will not support the creation of new jobs if, for example, a domestic firm exports parts that used to be shipped to a domestic auto assembly plant, and those products are used to build cars that are then sent back to the United States.1 Thus, the net effect of trade flows on employment must be based on an analysis of the trade balance.

Wal-Mart advertised its "Made in America" approach in the 1980's when Sam Walton was alive and in charge.  But the company's switch to a "Made in China" strategy was responsible for $27 billion in U.S. imports in 2006, which is 11% of the growth of the total U.S. trade deficit with China.

Robert Scott has previously demolished the illogical free trader argument that Wal-Mart's cheap goods is a net benefit to the U.S. and its poor.  The decreased income from Wal-Mart induced outsourcing far outweighs the cheap consumption benefits/low prices.  In other words, if citizens still had better jobs and higher incomes, but not the Wal-Mart price reductions, they would be better off. 

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