ITHICA, NY—At one time, most manufacturing jobs that left the United States for China were concentrated in relatively low-skill, low-wage jobs in light manufacturing industries, such as apparel and textiles. However, an increasing percentage of jobs that are now leaving this country for China are in industries producing goods such as bicycles, furniture, motors, compressors, generators, fiber optics, clocks, injection molded parts and computer components.
According to a report produced for the U.S.-China Security Review Commission, more than 760,000 U.S. manufacturing jobs have been lost to China since 1992. Most of those jobs were in eight industries: electronics and electrical equipment, chemicals and petroleum products, household goods, toys, textiles, plastics, sporting goods, and wood and paper products.