Take the example of the popular Apple video iPod. It’s a product with 450 parts made by companies around the globe, assembled in China and shipped to the United States, where it is sold for about $300. According to trade statistics, every finished iPod exported to the United States represents $150 of our trade deficit with China. But if you look closely at the value chain, you’ll see that most of the iPod’s value accrues to American companies and workers ($163), including $80 for the innovator, Apple. In fact, the final assembly in China is actually worth only $4 per unit, far short of the $150 that gets tallied officially in the attention-getting U.S. trade deficit with China.

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