Problematical trade statistics

...researchers estimated that $163 of the iPod’s $299 retail value in the United States was captured by American companies and workers, breaking it down to $75 for distribution and retail costs, $80 to Apple, and $8 to various domestic component makers. Japan contributed about $26 to the value added..., while Korea contributed less than $1.

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Even though Chinese workers contribute only about 1 percent of the value of the iPod, [according to conventional trade statistics] the export of a finished iPod to the United States directly contributes about $150 to our bilateral trade deficit with the Chinese.