Posted on 08/21/2007 5:31:03 AM PDT by shortstop
Precendent, please? Keep in mind that the American ideals of social and personal freedoms have little currency in eastern cultures.
I just traded in a worn out rose clipper (Cratfsman) at Sears and got a Made in CHina pair in return, chews up the branches rather than cuts them off, piece of crap.
I just spent several hundred dollars at Sears, buying Craftsman brand tools for my shop. Screwdrivers, wrenches, tap& die, files, pliers, dykes, balldrivers, etc. All Made in USA.
No rose clippers, though.
They have the Craftsman label on it.
Colour me disgusted. Yet another place I have to read the fine print ...
Fiskars sells a nice line of outdoor clippers and trimmers. Most are made in Sweden or Finland. But I can't think of a single manufacturer still making garden nippers in the USA. Corona went to China sometime in the last 7 years; my pair are USA-made and I bought them in 2000. The same model is now proudly stamped "designed in America and made in China to our exacting standards". No thanks.
I don’t have any objection to buying stuff that was made in countries that are more-or-less friendly to us, and in some cases the quality may be better than USA made. I recently needed a portable table saw; when I went shopping the winner was made in Germany. Swedish or Finnish scissors would be just fine. Red China is not fine, either on “friendliness” grounds or “quality” grounds.
The insurance company replaced my Bosch with a Craftsman joiner "assembled in USA" (from Chinese parts, no doubt). It was trash compared to my old one. I used it once and sold it on eBay.
Products for your RV...made in the USA.
Just got my order...
Pop-A-Plate, Pop-A-Napkin and RV Mini Dish Drainer & Tray
http://www.camco.net/Menu.cfm?SupCategoryId=10000&SubCategoryId=205
Japan seems rather prosperous, and has more social freedoms than most others.
Keep in mind that the American ideals of social and personal freedoms have little currency in eastern cultures.
Been there lately? Talk to any college aged kids?
Apples and oranges. We have not:
1. Bombed China into the stone age.
2. Rebuilt their entire country.
3. Written their constitution for them.
When the day comes that we have done these things for China, the survivors will have a great deal more freedom, indeed.
Been there lately? Talk to any college aged kids?
No. Have you? Do college aged kids speak for an entire nation? I sure hope ours don't.
Almost daily.
Do college aged kids speak for an entire nation? I sure hope ours don't.
True, but you noted that western ideals had no currency in easter cultures. I was providing a clear counter-example, and as is usually the case, college-aged reform-minded young adults have a knack for changing their worlds in the long run. Remember Tiannenmen Square? Clearly, some easterners support western ideals enough to put their lives on the line.
I do. it was a generation ago. The "college-aged kids" of that time are in positions of power now and nothing has changed.
but can I still have won-ton soup and egg-rolls?
Ok. You say scrap it. And that means what?
Punitive tariffs? Not a hot war, but an all out trade war?
They've done so much, so consistently, for so many years, I've just got them down on the harmful until demonstrated otherwise list.
At the very least it means revoking MFN, stringent Country-Of-Origin labelling laws for all products and strong quality controls.
What I would rather see is a spontaneous, voluntary boycott of Chinese goods by American consumers. I'm not holding my breath, though.
So then at least we're on a prudent course according to you.
The market is devaluing chinese goods even further, and the fedgov is overtly banning/recalling various chinese products in a very public way.
Remember, a grass-roots consumer boycott of Chinese toys in the US is piddling pin-prick to the chicoms. You might get 20% of FReepers to go along....maybe a few thousand people.
Yet, what the US Fedgov does, trickles down to dozens of entire countries, large and small around the world.
If you tried to go head-to-head confontation in a trade war, you get into a Cuba-vs-USA situation where everyone else in the world supports the poor American-Oppressed victim.
But the US Federal Government recalling lead-toys is not a transparently provacative state-to-state trade-war action, as it is merely done "to protect the safety of AMerican children."
Uncle Sam is the trusted big brother, and the little guys will eat the same cereal as big brother...but maybe not follow him into a fist-fight.
Dominican Republic health department seizes 'made in China' toys
Bush's yuan-revaluation-plus-china-stuff-is-crap policy is pretty deft, in my opinion.
We put the big hurt on them precipitating de-facto international boycotts while pressing them to further float the yuan, all the while, we look like the horribly aggrieved party.
Having a bumbling prez candidate come out and try to rile the local populist anti-china fires gets nothing. Which is why I think Hunter shows himself to be naive when he's dealing with this stuff, and that the sneaky chinese would roll that guy like a dumpling.
I am Australian.I have for years observed with alarm the trend toward Chinese made.In spite of my concerns I have still succumbed to the urge to buy cheap.No more!Four bikes/A chainsaw/Lawnmower/whipper snipper/and various sundry items,all lay in a pile,silent testimony to the chinese manufacturers total lack of concern for their customer.However,I am now confronted with another problem!!I find that I am unable to buy good quality anymore as most of the major manufacturers of good quality have been driven out of business.I am left wondering if this was all part of the grand design.
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