Trade with China slashes U.S. consumer prices, boosting low-income households.
Trade with China significantly lowered consumer prices in the US. For every 1% increase in imports from China, prices dropped by 1.91%. This was mainly due to lower markups on domestically-made products. The price effects were much larger than predicted by traditional trade models. Overall, trade with China boosted consumer welfare by $400,000 per job lost, with cheaper goods benefiting low-income consumers the most.