boycott "made in china"

[toploader1984]

we really NEED to boycott chinese made products, i am getting sick of seeing "made in china" on everything!!! it never used to be like this, things were always made HERE!! we need to take out country back ESPECIALLY now with the state of our economy. alot of our economy has do do with these companies outsourcing jobs to china and mexico just to make an extra dollar. everything mad in china is junk, lead in dishes, childs toys, they even put anti freeze and or lead in toothpaste!!!! not to mention those new "high efficiency" light bulbs which ALSO have lead!! we need to WAKE UP!!! ever since all this stuff going on, i look at made in china as a warning label, and if i can, i try to buy nothing but things made in AMERICA!! we need our jobs BACK!!!

 

[mixfinder]

Deposit Here

Sadly, we didn't want to pay the cost of doing business with limitations and expenses placed by a combination of greed, environmentalists, unions, health care and lower wages. We borrowed much of the money needed to stabilize our economy from China. Then, when it wasn't convenient to be responsible and pay the loans we extracted from other countries, we just crashed the world's economy and said, "Oh, sorry." Frankly, I am embarassed for what our government has done to the rest of the world's economy and standard of living and how it effects the "little people' just like you and I.

 

[jeffg]

Forget it. Game over. China won.

Earlier this year Obama proposed a very modest "Buy America" plan, and all hell broke loose -- from both Democrats and Republicans.

The good news is, our kids will need to learn only one sentence in school:

"Would you like fries with that?"

 

[qsd-dan]

Personally, I think it's far too late. Just about everything made and the tools and infrastructure to make it has been sent to China. It ain't coming back, especially in these hard economic times. We should have took this matter seriously over 15 years ago when the writing was on the wall and the possibility of reversal had a chance to occur.

Be prepared for America to become the next 3rd world country

 

[jeffg]

15 years ago? Try 30. Or even 35.

This "globalization" nonsense started with Richard Nixon. He's the traitor who cracked open Pandora's Box, and then Ronald Reagan (a far bigger traitor) nailed the box open. The mass exodus of U.S. manufacturing jobs began in earnest under Reagan. Anyone old enough to remember Reagan's speeches? I am. It was one bald-faced lie after another (e.g. "America's workers can compete with anyone" blah blah blah) Yep. Uh huh. Suuuure Ronnie, we can work for $2 an hour with no health care benefits, no retirement and absolutely no concern for our environment. Sure we can.

 

[sudsman]

Toploader1984

Think you are out of balance and need to rearrage your load.
Boycott china sound so nice and is good heart I am sure. However this day and time would be next to impossible. If not for sure so. Not a thing we can do about it not just too far along. 25 years ago or so it may have worked. American Workforce has NO hopes at all of compeating with them dollar for dollar. There is plenty of blame to go around to all sides/ labor unions, the democrats the republicans us ourselves wanting more and more. 3 rd world that might just be good compared to what we are now facing !

 

[maytagbear]

Game was over

when we (even me) started valuing cheaper goods over quality goods.

There are still some goods made in other places, but it takes a whale of a lot of looking to find them.

For now, take comfort in the fact that we are still a leading agricultural exporter in many categories.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[MrX]

I'm in Ireland and I most definitely go out of my way to buy European.

So far at least, major appliances sold here are still almost entirely made in Europe (although I'm sure they have components made in China inside).

It's not just Chinese products that I don't buy, but anything that isn't made locally (if I can avoid it).

I strongly believe in support jobs in EU countries, as if it ever came to it, it's other EU countries who would bale us out.

After that, I'll buy American, Japanese, Canadian, Australian, or from other 'developed' countries simply because I know that products made there are made by people paid a decent wage, in good conditions and in a way that is likely to comply with similarly high environmental standards.

Likewise, when it comes to buying food, I always start at home, and work my way through the EU.

With fruit and veg, I rarely buy anything that hasn't been grown in Ireland, the UK, France, Netherlands, Belgium or Spain.

I really find it ridiculous when you see things like Israeli and South American potatoes on sale in Ireland or you pick up a pack of scallions (salad onions) and discover they're from Guatamala.

Seriously, I think it's time we start shopping closer to home on a whole variety of products.

I am also very concerned that big companies are just exploiting people and also exploiting cost of living and currency distortions.

If all jobs in 'expensive' countries end up going to 'cheap' countries, it will just debase consumer spending power and ultimately global demand will slump, and we will head into a recessionary spiral that we won't be able to get out of.

This whole globalisation thing is just going too far, too fast.

Wherever you are, buy local first!

 

[alr2903]

China is not Our only trade imbalance

what do you consider made in america? a Buick Lucerne or Chevy Impala mfr. in Canada. A Chrysler PT cruiser from mexico? A Nissan mfr. in Tennessee or Mississippi? Remember in the 90's "we are leaving the old industrial age, and entering a new information age". The information is, the jobs are long gone.

 

[rolls_rapide]

Panasonic front loading washing machines...

...on sale in the UK are, would you believe, made in China.

Absolutely ridiculous.

What with all the furore surrounding chemical content in toys, toothpaste, baby formula and dog food, I think "Made in China" = rubbish quality.

There was a recall for Marks & Spencer's flat spatula cooking utensil just last month, as it apparently contained a banned chemical in the black plastic. This chemical supposedly had no business being there in the first place.

Oh, and the spatula was made in China!

 

[frigilux]

You can't boycott items manufactured in China or Mexico and then shop at WalMart because you want to buy socks for $1.

Jeff is right; game over. We weren't willing to pay what it costs to give workers a living wage in the US, so the manufacturers went to China. It's called the free market system, kids.

 

[whitekingd]

If we made these products ourselves,

We would be paying $250 for a transistor radio, and $400 for a Remington Razor. We offer minimum wage (which China does not) and benefits to many (which China does not). We can no longer compete because we try to take care of our workers, and China does not. It is a downward spiral that we can't stop.

 

[kenwashesmonday]

Consumers insist on buying by price.

How much did a Maytag A606 cost in 1970, and how much would it be in todays dollars? Nobody cares anymore that a good machine would last 20+ years. That's why all the new stuff is junk with a capital "J".

Ken D.

 

[andrewinorlando]

And this is what put companies like Maytag out of business...consumers don't want to pay premium prices even for premium products. They want it cheap, cheap, cheap.

I stopped buying Made In China years ago as much as possible. Shop on Ebay and other auction sites for what you need, you can find stuff there that was made in the good old USA. Definitely DO NOT buy food or pet products made in China. Those folks are corrupt, greedy, and could care less what they do to the health and safety of the people who buy their goods.

Remember back in the 70s when it was "Made in Japan"? At least now Japanese goods represent quality for the most part, if you can find any.....

 

[perc-o-prince]

what it costs to give workers a living wage in the US

Surely you don't mean an over-inflated UNION wage? It really gauls me to see union workers outside a "non-shop" work site with signs basically saying that the company heading this job pays sub-standard wages to its workers. That's just not true. They generally pay a decent wage with decent benefits, but not as high or not with as many breaks as the union worker gets!

Example: UPS. I know a driver who used to complain about getting out after 6pm each day. I would see the same driver pulled off the road, engine off, taking a nap on his union-mandated break. And how many of those did he get a day? No wonder he was out until after 6!

And don't even get me started on why it takes 5 guys to work around a manhole when only one of them is actually doing anything. And that doesn't include the detail cop who's there, at something like $50 and hour, shootin' the sh*t with the "laborers" instead of paying attention to the traffic like he's supposed to!

Sorry. Done.

Chuck

 

[petek]

Americans; Don't forget and don't lightly dismiss the fact that American corporations and retailers have been selling US made products overseas for at least a century or more. And throughout this past century many many people in Europe etc railed against it, even though they bought the stuff or shopped in US owned stores.. ie Woolworths, Safeway etc
I hear and saw hear complaints about cars being made in Canada.. another exmple.. Ford Motor Co founded around 1903, started making cars in Canada not long after, 1911 iirc and of course along with those cars they made here they also imported a lot more US made ones to Canada as well as sold some of the Canadian made ones back into the US.
None of this is new. Same with General Electric, Westinghouse Hoover etc and on and on and on,,
Hoover opened a Canadian plant in the early teens not long after the American parent company opened, not just to sell vacuums etc in Canada but the get access to the lucrative British market without paying high duties, Hoover vacuums made in Canada were exempt because Canada was a British colony etc.
America cannot survive on selling only to itself, it's impossible to sustain and it has always had to sell goods elsewhere. Part of the price of the ability to be able to sell US made goods elsewhere was that the companies had to open plants in those countries so the locals could have jobs as well and not close their own factories because they couldn't compete with the size of the US corporations.

 

[petek]

hit enter too soon

Saw this same sort of thing happening in the 80's and 90s with Japanese cars flooding the N,American market and they were told they had to open plants in Canada and the US if they wanted to continue selling cars here and avoid stiff duties and so they did.
The problem with China though is that nobody is really getting anything in return,, except for inexpensive products and there hasn't been any push by any world government especially the US to "force" them to start opening plants over here and employing US workers like the Japanese companies had to do etc.

 

[sudsmaster]

The way the Chinese are getting around trade restrictions is that nearly all the products that are made in China and sold here are done so under American corporate control. These companies simply "outsourced" production to China and shut down their American factories. All perfectly legal and I guess there are no tariffs or duties involved. But perhaps there should be.

I will differ with some of the comments here. There's a lot of quality stuff being made in China - usually the top name brands where they take pains to make sure that the materials, workmanship, and most importantly, the quality control are up to par. In some cases the lack of environmental restrictions means that the materials and processes are BETTER than that of US-made equivalent goods. Thicker plating, for example, more expensive metals, etc. There is still a lot of junk out there, of course - and one walk through Walmart will reveal most of their stuff for sale is just that: junk built to a price. Costco has been on the China bandwagon for some time but at least they seem to go for the better made products.

Since I work in the manufacturing sector of course I'm not happy to see all this production leave the USA and go overseas to China. At the same time I like being able to buy my Chinese made tools of the trade for a fraction of their US-made counterparts, as well as tools and equipment for my home shop.

It used to be the thinking, "OK, we'll let the production that requires unskilled labor go overseas, the stuff that requires a high level of skill will stay here". But even the higher skilled stuff has gone. Then it was, "Well, we'll be come a service oriented economy, with jobs that require mostly brain work staying here". Well, we all know what happened to that. Not only have a lot of the tech support jobs gone to places like India, but global communications means that a lot of the engineering/design jobs have gone overseas as well.

What's left? Well, stuff that is in too low quantities to justify an overseas contract. Prototypes, experimental, etc. But then the mass production goes to China. Then there are defense industry type manufacturing which for national security reasons cannot be outsourced to China. Who knows how long that will last?

I often hear stories of how jobs were sent to China but then have had to come back here to be reworked because they aren't made right. Which probably eliminates any savings in sending them to China in the first place. But I suspect even that will change. China has the people and the resources to do work just as well as we do it. Anyone who doesn't admit that is living in dangerous denial.

 

[sudsmaster]

PS-What may cause a bit of a change in this trend is a couple of things: Labor unrest in China as workers demand better wages, better working conditions, etc. Add to that, the environmental cost of the way China is doing things will catch up to them: first with the associated health costs of the massive air and water pollution they are causing, and then out of concern for the natural environment (what's left of it) over there. Probably the worst smog in the world is around the major Chinese cities.

But I think there also needs to be a change in the way American companies do business. Sooner or later they will have to wake up to the reality that they can make their products more cheaply in China, but since they fired all their US production employees, there is no longer an adequate market for these products in the USA. I think Obama has spoken about rewarding American companies for keeping production on the domestic side - we'll just have to see if that ever comes to be.