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How Changes in Trade Partners Have Affected U.S. Import Prices
Over the past two decades, U.S. firms have restructured their global supply chains, shifting from traditional trading partners like Canada, Japan and the European Union (EU) to lower-cost suppliers such as China and other emerging economies. This transformation accelerated during the 2000s but began to reverse in recent years, as firms diversify away from China amid a broader process of economic decoupling. These dynamics are evident in the data: China’s share of U.S. imports rose sharply in the early 2000s and remained elevated through the mid-2010s before beginning to decline around 2017, as the first figure ... (full story)