1. What does the chart tell you about the things you buy?
Most of the consumer products I purchase are made locally in China. Consumer foodstuff is
bought locally as it is perceived to be fresher and not to have been preserved using chemicals
thus healthier. Most other products are produced domestically as China is the world’s largest
manufacturer due to their abundance of labour and factories and also their subsidies on
companies and general government policy towards industries. For products such as perfume
Chinese people are not users of perfume with fewer than 5% of the total population using
fragrance as compared to 60% in the USA. Most fragrances are bought as gifts thus the need for
popular brands such as Chanel from France. Most pharmaceutical drugs are imports from the
USA. This is because of America’s leading research in the field of medicine and their mass
development of drugs. Other goods such as furniture are mostly manufactured locally. The table
shows that my consumption patterns are synonymous to those of a regular Chinese citizen as
most of the products I use are basic consumer items and are locally manufactured.
2. Given your purchasing patterns, to what extent do you think that you are a beneficiary of
free trade?
Free trade agreements enable imports to be cheap and affordable to people by levying taxes and
tariffs that would have otherwise been passed on to the final consumer to ensure that the
companies get their profit. China being a dominant economic powerhouse has made free trade
agreements with many countries, especially in Africa and in the East, to facilitate better trade.
This has made the price of relatively basic needs for citizens such as drugs more affordable. With
the world’s largest population, China is susceptible to diseases, especially communicable ones,
