<p>Because, regardless of private debts of Apple, the US government is in debt to China.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>As of September 2014, foreigners owned \$6.06 trillion of U.S. debt, or approximately 47% of the debt held by the public of \$12.8 trillion and 34% of the total debt of $17.8 trillion. As of 2018, the largest holders were China, Japan, Ireland, and Brazil.</p>
</blockquote>

<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_of_the_United_States#Foreign_holdings" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_of_the_United_States#Foreign_holdings</a></p>

<p>See also <a href="http://ticdata.treasury.gov/Publish/mfh.txt" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MAJOR FOREIGN HOLDERS OF TREASURY SECURITIES</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-09-30T12:30:18.427Z
Ok. But below link says they are related,ie private debts of Apple accounts for around 5% of US trade deficit:https://www.google.co.in/amp/s/qz.com/1234437/the-iphone-alone-accounts-for-16-billion-of-the-us-trade-deficit-with-china/amp/
Ganapathi Bhat
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-09-30T12:34:22.870Z
The trade deficit is not the same as public or private debt. I recommend you read about the basic concepts before returning to your question.
Giskard
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-01T09:34:24.760Z
Sorry. The term 'private debt' was a wrong term in my above comment. The link says that the imports made by Apple do account for 5% of trade deficit between US and China.
Ganapathi Bhat
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-09-30T11:21:39.907Z
2018-09-30T11:21:39.907Z
Giskard
<p>Apple import iPhones manufactured by factories in China. Apple has to pay for these Chinese manufacturers. So, Apple should be in debt with Chinese manufacturers. But why do we say the US government is in debt to China?</p>

<international-trade><government-debt><balance-of-trade>
Why do we say the US is in debt to China?
Ganapathi Bhat
# Why do we say the US is in debt to China?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-09-30)

Apple import iPhones manufactured by factories in China. Apple has to pay for these Chinese manufacturers. So, Apple should be in debt with Chinese manufacturers. But why do we say the US government is in debt to China?

**Tags:** international-trade, government-debt, balance-of-trade

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-09-30. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

Because, regardless of private debts of Apple, the US government is in debt to China.

> As of September 2014, foreigners owned \$6.06 trillion of U.S. debt, or approximately 47% of the debt held by the public of \$12.8 trillion and 34% of the total debt of $17.8 trillion. As of 2018, the largest holders were China, Japan, Ireland, and Brazil.

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_of_the_United_States#Foreign_holdings>

See also [MAJOR FOREIGN HOLDERS OF TREASURY SECURITIES](http://ticdata.treasury.gov/Publish/mfh.txt)

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Ok. But below link says they are related,ie private debts of Apple accounts for around 5% of US trade deficit:https://www.google.co.in/amp/s/qz.com/1234437/the-iphone-alone-accounts-for-16-billion-of-the-us-trade-deficit-with-china/amp/  
> **username_1**: The trade deficit is not the same as public or private debt. I recommend you read about the basic concepts before returning to your question.  
> **username_0**: Sorry. The term 'private debt' was a wrong term in my above comment. The link says that the imports made by Apple do account for 5% of trade deficit between US and China.  

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