如今，美国制造的商品是热门商品。根据美国商务部（华盛顿特区）的说法，对出口的需求最近经历了5年来每月收益最大。但是，其他一些新闻更加清醒。

我最近从西方的家庭度假回来。为了减少我们的“碳足迹”，我们决定服用Amtrak。自从我上一次我在这个国家骑着长途火车以来已经有很多年了。这次旅行顺利进行，但是在过夜旅行中，所有繁重的货运交通都以高速驶过的所有沉重的货运流量使我感到震惊。

大部分的货车包含双垛containers on their way to Chicago from Long Beach and other West Coast ports. However, there also was quite a bit of westbound traffic. Many of the containers may have been empty, but after reading today’s headlines, that may not necessarily have been the case.

如今，美国制造的商品是热门商品。According to the U.S. Commerce Dept. (Washington, DC), demand for exports rose 4 percent in June, despite record domestic prices for oil. In fact, it was the biggest monthly gain in 5 years.

美国国家制造商协会（NAM，华盛顿特区NAM）国际经济事务副总裁Frank Vargo说：“ 6月制造的商品出口比去年同期高17.4％。”“这是从今年较早几个月的平均增长速度已经快15％的加速度。

“Manufactured goods exports are growing more than twice as fast as imports of manufactured goods, and as a result, the manufactured goods trade deficit is falling,” adds Vargo “June’s manufactured goods trade deficit was 9 percent lower than it was a year ago.”

Industrial machinery and primary metal products are two of today’s export stand-outs. “The performance of manufactured goods trade is so strong that it is a major offset to the rising deficit in petroleum,” Vargo points out.

That certainly is good news, but here’s something a little more sobering. At the same time that the folks in Washington were cheering about the robust U.S. economy, Global Insight Inc. (Waltham, MA) was announcing that China will overtake the United States as the world’s leading manufacturer earlier than previously anticipated.

Measured in real value-added terms, China’s share in global manufacturing is predicted to become No. 1 by 2016. “This is helped by the Asian giant’s rapid gains in the market shares of textiles, basic metals, computer equipment, appliances and mineral products,” says Prem Premakumar, a senior economist at Global Insight.

但是，这不一定是恐慌的原因。“美国将继续领导选定的高价值制造业，例如航空航天，药品和专业设备，” Premakumar称。“此外，制造业仅占美国国内生产总值的12.5％，而服务部门则更占主导地位。相比之下，中国经济中有36％从事制造业。”