http://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/fs/aust.pdf

There ya go Sonofgloin, all nicely classified for you by Dfat.

China was responsible for a mere 18.7% of our imports.

Your claim of 9 out of 10 is clearly ridiculous.

Our main imports, petroleum, passenger cars, medicines, telecoms
parts etc.

We exported 20 billion more then we imported.

You as a consumer got bargain after bargain from those
competitive manufacturers around the globe. If that stuff
was all made here, your cost would triple, your quality would
be crap. What a lucky chap you are to live in a free trade
economy! Just see how most Australians agree with me,as they
vote every day with their wallets. Your high standard of living,
one of the highest in the world, is in fact due to free trade.

Give it up Ludwig, for every forky on $4K a week I can give you a 1000 young Aussie in the service industry on $400 per week. Using exceptions to the norm as a counter is a dishonest response, because other than a manifestation of human greed it is not a marker to a trend that has any impact on the whole. next time put some thought behind it Luddy.

Just on the subject of relativity what of the top layers of management who's contracts equate to hourly rates of $5K and more, no mention of them. Or are they not AS obscene as the forkies are for grabbing a bit of the not well shared out pie.

Yabby:> China was responsible for a mere 18.7% of our imports. <<

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLLOLOLOLOLO

Ludwig, Sonogloin has no idea what is going on in the West. He
can't think beyond his little patch of Sydney.

Sonofgloin, clearly you think that the Department of Foreign
Affairs and Trade don't have a clue as to what Australia imports.
Or you simply did not bother to read their data, which I posted
the link to.

Well stick to your Xmas tree economics. As I always say, whatever
gets you through the night, old son :)

Dfat:>> Australian merchandise trade with China, 2010:
Exports to China (A$m):
58,340
25.3%
Imports from China (A$m):
39,249
18.7% <<

http://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/fs/chin.pdf

Yabby the percentage you trotted out is a percentage against an aspect of GDP, not the percentage of imports that China has in our market against all imports. The link you provided is pertinent to exports just a portion of the 2010 GDP that in total ran into 1-2 Trillion.

Follow me on this Yabby:
Our total exports to everywhere was $211 Billion for 2010.
Our exports to China were $58 Billion, 25% of that $211 Billion for 2010.
Our imports from China were $39 Billion, which is 18% of the $211 Billion for 2010.

Yabby, you can’t use that figure in regard to your application, which is, out of all we import what percentage comes From China. Our retail sales run at about $18 Billion a month, but this figure is deceptive because it includes all gambling, lotteries, and a host of domestic services. So the figure of product sales per month is mentionable percentage below the $18 Billion. Given that our export numbers and domestic sales numbers are just about in tangent this means that for two and a half months of the year we are exclusively buying imported Chinese product given we import $40 Billion worth of stuff.

I toned down the tech terms as I am a slick citier and you are but a man of the earth as you said.

*Yabby the percentage you trotted out is a percentage against an aspect of GDP, not the percentage of imports that China has in our market against all imports.*

Not so, Sonofgloin, please sharpen your calculator :)

Total GDP was 1.45 trillion, which includes everything.

Exports 231 billion, China was 25.3% = 58 billion
Imports total was 210 billion, China 18.7% of that = 39 billion.

I rounded the numbers up or down for simplicity.
Import and export figures are usually calculated as FOB,
ie price on the wharf.

Any money earned on any imports, between the wharf and the customer,
which is often most of the profits, stays right here in Australia.

The thing is, production of any goods is becoming more and more
mechanised. Robots are becoming the norm. I saw a a report some
time ago in a business publication, where a company in America had
the production of fridges down to 1 human hour of labour per unit,
the rest is automated. So we have larger capital investment in
much larger factories, working 24/7, producing cheaper and better
products. Consumers benefit. But you cannot justify that kind of
capital investment, for a tiny market like Australia. You would
be back to making things by hand, which would make them unaffordable
to consumers, who are the main beneficiaries of globalisation