A new report by a progressive nonprofit group suggests that imports from China by Walmart have eliminated or displaced hundreds of thousands of jobs.
The Economic Policy Institute’s most recent report, “A Conservative Estimate of ‘The Walmart Effect,’” claims that between the years 2001 and 2013, 400,000 jobs (mostly manufacturing) were displaced or eliminated because of Walmart. Those jobs represent 13 percent of all jobs displaced (3.2 million) during that time period. The report begins at 2001 because that’s the year China joined the World Trade Organization.
Jobs in the manufacturing sector pay higher wages and provide better benefits than most industries, particularly for workers who don’t have a college education.
“U.S. exports to China in 2001 supported 161,400 jobs, but U.S. imports displaced production that would have supported 1,127,700 jobs,” states the study. “Therefore, the $84.1 billion goods trade deficit in 2001 displaced nearly 1 million jobs in that year. Net job displacement rose to 4,123,400 in 2013. Growth in trade deficits with China has reduced demand for goods produced in every region of the United States and has led to job displacement in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.”
Lisa Pietro, a member of the pro-worker group OUR Walmart, said that importing goods from other countries has hurt Americans in more ways than one.
“Walmart’s decision to import so many of their products from China has hurt our communities with fewer and fewer good manufacturing jobs here in the U.S., making a mockery of their ‘Made in America’ initiative,” said Pietro in an emailed statement. “People ask why we continue to work at Walmart with their low pay and hours, but with the corporation killing the very jobs that may have offered us better pay and benefits, what work is left for us? Walmart is the largest employer in the country, and Walmart associates can’t feed our families on Walmart’s poverty pay and inconsistent hours.
“OUR Walmart members are organizing in all corners of the country to call for respect on the job with full-time work and $15 an hour,” Pietro continued. “As the world’s biggest and most profitable retailer, Walmart can and must do better by its workforce.”
Walmart told The New York Times that it disputes the EPI’s study’s conclusions because it relies on “guess work.” Retailers normally don’t release breakdowns of imports.