By Dr. Glenn Mollette
Guest Commentary
What does China export to the United States? Items include electronics, machinery, furniture, bedding, clothing, footwear, toys, cars, motorcycles, medical equipment, needles and catheters. There is of course more.
These and other products are a big part of the over $48.83 billion in exports China sent to the US in December 2024 alone. For the entire year it was over $600 billion.
To break it down, we imported $34.2 b (billion) in computers. $23.2 b in phones $4.3 b in televisions. Semiconductors $3.4 b. Industrial machines $8.5 b. Printing machinery $1.3 b. Textile machines $1.2 b. Vaccines $1.1 b. Insulin $134 million. Furniture $15.5 billion. Footwear $5.6 billion. These numbers are based on 2022 trade deals, so the dollar amount is always changing but it gives us an idea of how dependent we have become on China. This of course is not comprehensive as there are various other medicines and items that China exports to us. For example, Tylenol, Advil, Motrin, Amoxicillin, Keflex, blood pressure meds, Hydrochlorothiazide, Metformin, Vitamin C, Aspirin, insulin tablets and
more come from China.
Does this scare you? It may because we import so much from China. However, it should make us all mad. How did we get ourselves into this mess? American companies took our jobs to cheap labor places like China where these products are made by people working for slave wages. These products were made cheaply and then sold back to us. The American people were robbed of jobs and opportunities to provide for our children because a lot of our jobs were outsourced somewhere else.
These companies have gotten by with it for over 30 years while our people in America had to go to work for McDonalds, Walmart, Starbucks and pray to God every day that they might make $12 or $13 an hour. We allowed our automobile industry to suffer, we buried our energy industry and became dependent on China, Vietnam, Japan and other countries.
Thus, Walmart became American’s store because we can go to Walmart and buy for cheap. Walmart and Dollar General are about the only stores most Americans can afford. They are no longer the choice just because they are cheaper. They are all most Americans can afford.
and comments about Sheddeur Sanders and his rise and fall in this year’s draft. Everyone has been talking about it. Enough said.
The important part of the Sanders story is that he was drafted and now must prove he belongs in the NFL.
Being a number 1 draft choice in the NFL doesn’t always mean you will be successful in the league.
JaMarcus Russell (2007) and Courtney Brown (2000) were drafted as number 1 choices yet neither lived up to the expectations that everyone had for them.
In comparison, being a low draft choice doesn’t mean you won’t be successful in the NFL.
Roosevelt Brown, an offensive lineman for the New York Giants, was selected with the 321st overall pick in the 1953 draft. The record shows he had a great career and is a member of the NFL Hall of Fame.
Chris Hanburger, a linebacker for the franchise named the Washington Redskins, now Commanders was drafted with the 245th overall pick in the 1965 draft. He played for 14 seasons and is also in the NFL Hall of Fame
It’s not where you start, it’s where you finish.
Ryan Succop, Mr. Irrelevant in the 2009 NFL Draft won a Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Mr. Irrelevant in the 2025 NFL Draft was Kobee Minor. Be on the lookout for him.
Hold on, because of the tariffs Walmart will become more expensive.
Can anybody answer the question why we allowed this slow growing but almost fatal economic cancer to invade our mindset and our country? We did not protect ourselves. We looked out for the world and let our own country suffer. Now we are having to undergo a serious time of economic surgery and treatment.
It’s way, way, past time to bring the manufacturing back to America. It will not happen overnight. In the meantime, keep in mind that numerous other countries make medicine. India exports over $ 9 b a year. Ireland over $8 b. Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Canada, the UK, Israel and Singapore export billions of dollars of medicine every year. There are other places besides China to buy our medicine.
The same goes for electronics, toys, furniture and shoes. For example, toys. Yes, China exports 8 5 % of our toys, but other countries make toys such as good old Vietnam. They exported $3.4 b last year while Indonesia and Thailand both exported over $4 b in toys. There are other places for us to buy toys.
We can find a way to live without China. It’s way past time.