Walmart’s imports from China have unfortunately caused a loss of 400,000 jobs in the United States from the years 2001 to 2013; the imports were worth $49 billion in 2013. The retail company was reported to be a provider of 13% out of 3.2 million jobs during the same period according to an EPI report made public on Wednesday.
Walmart Stores Inc. was responsible for 15.3% of the US products trade growth through the imports with China. The EPI also said, “Walmart has aided China’s abuse of labor rights and its violations of internationally recognized norms of fair trade by providing a vast and ever expanding conduit for the distribution of artificially cheap and subsidized Chinese exports to the United States.” The retailer defended itself saying the analysis of the EPI was incorrect and distorted. It provides jobs in departments such as distribution, logistics, and the supply chain.
Walmart Wholesale also said it is planning to add 1 million jobs in USA by 2023, but this is just a claim that it has made, only time will tell what is going to happen by then. However, the EPI believes more jobs are going to be lost in the future because of the China Imports trade business the company does.
The multinational retail corporation has informed another step it is going to take in 2023 – buying $50 billion of USA manufactured products – the target was later increased to $250 million due to the pressure put on the company by critics and unions.
A spokesman for the retail chain, Lorenzo Lopez said, “We are very proud of our US manufacturing initiative, and the results speak for themselves. By investing in products that support American jobs, we are able to bring new products to our shelves while bringing new jobs to local communities in Ohio, Tennessee, California and many others.”
The retail giant has been accused in the past for supplying USA with cheap products that have been imported to it; regardless it makes $500 billion worth of sales each year. To settle the matter, it announced of putting more US made products on its shelves to put ease to the recent issues.
The EPI’s involvement in the company contributing to the region in the loss of 400,000 opportunities is mainly because this is not the first time. EPI gets support from many of the labor agencies in the country. The workforce of the retailers took support of such labor organizations only to demand raise in wages and better discounts on food items.
Walmart stock closed at $59.63, going red by -1.44 on December 9.
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