Grrr-China food imports

[HarlansHollowFarms]

Personally I do Not like Wal-Mart. This being said, the reason is because it sell cheap goods, it doesn't matter where it is manufactured, it is cheaply made. I will however buy certain things there, Old Roy dog food is made by Purina in the USA, I know this because my aunt works there.
I try to buy American Made when the product is high quality, if is is not I will look else where. For instance; my cookware is All-Clad made in the USA, my knives are Wusthof made in Germany....
my philosiphy is , go for the best, and you can have things for a lifetime, go for the cheapest and you wind up with a bunch of junk. I am not rich, I just don't have alot of stuff, what I do have, I know it will last.
Sorry for the

 

[PotterWatch]

I'm sure this has already been said, but it's not the fault of the government that we have so many non-american products on our shelves. It's the fault of the American consumers who have for so many years wanted the cheapest product. Unfortunately, other countries have long been able to produce at a lower cost due to, among other things, the working conditions and wages we require in this country. Workers in the US fought long and hard for better working conditions and wages, but unfortunately, the consumers were not willing to support them and pay the higher prices that came as a result. We are now paying the price as many American companies either can't compete, or can't find what they need to make their product here in the US. If someone wants to buy the cheapest product without a care for what contaminents it might contain, or the conditions/wage of the worker who made it; that is absolutely their choice and I don't look down on them for it (I have done it myself from time to time when the extra dollar or two per item was just too much). With our economy the way it is now however, I am trying to support local businesses as much as I can in the hopes that they will do the same for me.

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

It is not the "little bit" of contaminant that worries me. I am all for kids getting dirty and all, but China right now is a disaster. The food products are not a "little" contaminated they are enormously contaminated.

And working conditions for those people SHOULD concern us. Not only are we profiting from child labor and slave labor (yes slave - I don't have another term for girls indentured for years to repay debts they cannot escape and did not create) but the country is creating pollution that is way past a "little" problem.

Pollution has this pesky habit of refusing to stay where it is created.....

American's have been penny wise and pound foolish for decades now and it is coming home to roost in many ways.

 

[country lady]

I do fault our government for bad trade agreements. The same standards should be applied to foreign-made goods as required by our government for American-made goods. According to what I've read, some American companies moved to 3rd world countries so they wouldn't have to adhere to pollution and labor requirements. These are just a part of doing business in America. At the very least, our government should insist on monitoring and testing goods at the source. I know we don't have enough inspectors here, so what's the answer other than a huge recall? It seems to me that the last time we had a major toy recall, the CEO apologized to the Chinese.

We need strong negotiators.

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

No, see you gotta understand the free market ideology. C'mon you're not getting into the spirit of this - you see, in a "free" market bad companies won't survive because people won't buy from companies that kill their kids and CEOs will be careful of their investments because they won't want their companies to go bankrupt.

Don't you see how that works?? You're talking big government and big government is always evil... (say this with a scary voice)

 

[HarlansHollowFarms]

Am I the only one who thinks this is a comsumer problem? If we as Amercans demanded better products by refusing to purchase substandard and cheap goods, we would not have to worry that what we were buy came from overseas markets that enploy 'slave' labourers.
And before anyone tells me about the bad economy, this problem started in the boom years when people started buy uncontrolably. Now many do not have much choice.

 

[cmcgoun]

Well yes it is mostly consumer based. Its not the fact that we dont make enough goods in the US to supply everyone, its the fact that some either dont care or are too cheap to spend that extra buck for an American made item. In China guess where they get the majority of their goods? They get them from the USA. We buy their goods and we sell them ours.

It works as supply and demand, if people started buying more American items we would have to make more, which would create more jobs, and a better economy FOR US. Why dont you people think about that, when I buy an American made item I know I am doing something to help better this country.

 

[HarlansHollowFarms]

Quote:
I want better quality, and that is not always American made, but it is not cheap chinese stuff either. I do not buy just because it comes from the USA, some of the stuff we produce today in the US is just as cheaply made as the chinese stuff.

 

[cmcgoun]

Yes thats true, its just supply and demand people want a cheap product, they wont get good quality.

 

[HarlansHollowFarms]

Quote:
That is exactly true. We, the consumer, have created this mess, and the only way to stop it is to refuse to purchase it. We do not need the government to make more regulations, we need to regulate ourselves....hmmmmm...I think lack of regulation and control of our own habits got us in to this mess to beging with...the economy I mean

I will try to shut up now