Personal Dork Assistant

Chinese Junk

In the face of ever-increasing trade deficits, it's up to the creative American exporter to make up the difference. So what does America have that China wants? Junk, of course. Raw materials such as scrap metal and recycled cardboard are just about the only things filling up all those shipping containers on their return trip to China. Funny how the increasing scrap metal prices are screwing American manufacturers from both ends, as their own raw material costs increase even as competition from China are driving down the prices for the finished goods.

To Mr. Strelitz, Mr. Omer and others dependent on copper scrap, this seems like the ultimate indignity — that Chinese companies drive up scrap prices, yet are able to sell products made from that scrap for less than American manufacturers can.

Mr. Pan, the Chinese scrap merchant, said that Americans should be a little more appreciative of the benefits of China's scrap purchases. After all, he argued, they keep some junk that could never be used in the United States from ending up in American landfills.

Sure, because the Chinese care all that much about the environment. Oh well, sometimes you gotta sacrifice some trees to keep the lights on.

Electricity consumption jumped by 15 percent. Domestic coal production rose by 100 million tons - and still there were shortages.

Yet China's appetite today is modest compared with what is estimated for the future; the country's energy needs are expected to more than double by 2020. This prospect has the Communist Party reportedly rolling out plans for at least 100 new power plants, including nuclear, hydropower and coal-fired ones. It has also raised concerns that efforts to improve China's polluted environment will be muted by the demand for power.

The funny thing is that despite the hue and cry in the U.S. about its trade imbalances, China actually runs a net trade deficit, mostly because of its voracious appetite for raw materials like oil and steel. So much for hopes of a stronger yuan.