How China took over July 4th

(Image credit: Yana Paskova/Getty Images)

last updated 8 January 2015

If you're celebrating Independence Day by wearing an American flag t-shirt, setting off some Roman candles, and waving the stars and stripes, there's a good chance you just indirectly handed a few factories in China a wad of cash. As The Washington Post's Christopher Ingraham says:

The United States imported $4 million in U.S. flags last year, 97 percent of which came from China. And it's not just flags — like other consumer goods, the lions' share of our patriotic paraphernalia was made in China. [The Washington Post]