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That would only explain manufacturing inputs.

Also analyzed are building materials and agricultural inputs. Buildings can't be off-shored, and if anything, we're a net exporter of agricultural products. So the analysis holds.

Exactly. The primary inputs analyzed here are manufacturing inputs and if manufacturing has been outsourced so should the consumption of the inputs.

That seems like the most likely explanation, especially since this trend started right when trade opened with China.

It's confusing to me that this isn't proffered at all in the article or most of the comments here. Without understanding this factor, how can "dematerialization" be taken seriously?

> Without understanding this factor, how can "dematerialization" be taken seriously?

I don't think it can. My thought went to suspecting we simply don't "directly" consume raw materials only because this story doesn't pass the common sense 'sniff' test. If I look around me at my lifestyle or my friends/family/coworker's lifestyles, consumerism seems to have increased and not decreased. Think of the rise of ubiquitous handheld electronic devices, fast fashion (Forever 21, H&M, and so on), online shopping, and so on.