Thanks you for the info, Henry. Does a figure get broken out about how much of the trade deficit comes from stuff that is made by American companies? And how does the value of those things get calculated? That is, if the drive that comes from Singapore was assembled over there, with the parts coming from, say, Thailand and Malaysia, and sells retail here for, say $200, does the $200 get marked down as the value of the good? Or does the, say, $120 that SEG might get for the drive from the distributor get marked down? And of that $120, how much of that is money that is paid outside of this country, and how much inside? That is, they have some costs that are paid to the people who assembled it, but it isn't very much. They probably pay more to the people who transport it, and may even pay more for the box that the drive comes in. But another part of the $120 is the cost to design it, the managers, etc. All of it doesn't actually leave this country.
I'm just trying to figure out how much of that $200 million deficit is "real". How much money actually goes outside the US, and how much actually stays inside, if that makes any sense at all (which it may well not). Do you see my question at least? |
