Trade Gap Hits Record $18 Billion

Your front-page story (Aug. 30), “Trade Gap Hits Record $18 Billion,” should be read while keeping the following in mind:

1--There are few American products that are entirely “made in America.” American products often use parts supplied by Korea, Japan, Taiwan, European countries, and many others. The slogan, “Buy American,” is meaningless jingoism without knowing the sources of the components.

2--Of course it is true, as your story says, that the money Americans spend on imports is money that cannot be used to buy products produced in America. But people buying imports are not crazy; they are buying imports when they think they get more for their money than for similar American-made products. I do not think it is rational to expect people to do otherwise.

The real problem is not that people are buying foreign goods, but that American goods are often not competitive with their foreign counterparts. With respect to the latter, I suggest that a comparison of business regulation in the United States versus that of foreign competitors would be a real eye-opener.

3--Some attention should be paid to what happens to those American dollars spent on foreign goods. Since the dollar is not convertible into gold or silver, those dollars will eventually end up back in the American economy as investments in American companies and goods or to pay for American goods imported into foreign countries, which creates more jobs for Americans.

SANDY SHAW

Palos Verdes Estates