"Made in China" products accounted for only 2.7 percent of consumer spending (frbsf.org)

If you exclude services, then 35% of consumer spending is on imports. I think that number matches up more closely with peoples expectations. That said, oil really distorts that number.

I don't think that's what it means. I might be wrong, but I got the impression it meant that 75% of the total money spent on motor vehicles ultimately stays in the US in some fashion. Either because it was assembled here or because of dealer commissions or because it costs money to hire US companies to move the cars from the port to the lot, etc.

The biggest sellers from foreign carmakers often end up manufactured in their USA-based plants, which then makes them "Made in America". Add that to the American carmakers and it seems reasonable to reach 75%.

The only plausible explanation would be that a large portion of foreign car purchases are from the foreign factories in the US. BMW, Mercedes, and practially all of the Japanese manufacturers make some of their cars here.

In regards to your second question, check out figure 2 way at the bottom of the article where they have a breakdown of made in us with us parts vs. made in us without us parts, etc.

It isn't labeled in the chart, but the text of the article notes that electronics fall into the durable goods category along with cars, furniture, etc... So they are including all imports, not cherry picking.

Well I'm not sure who to believe, but leading off their rebuttal with, "I am not going to begin to decipher their convoluted logic" does not inspire confidence.