Vanity - Sharing a post --> National boycott of Chinese goods

4-3-2020 | Vanity

[Svartalfiar]

You may be able to do it. Some of us may only be able to try to do it. I needed a 12V insecticide sprayer yesterday ALL I could find are made in China. Not something I can do without.

Sigh yup. I've always preferred Made in America, but wasn't too anal about it. Now though I've been looking a lot closer into it, and it's difficult.

We just bought two fans, one for the living room and one for the patio. We found ONE company in these US making ceiling fans, and even then a lot of parts are sourced from South America. Matthews Fan Company is from Illinois, but the wife doesn't like their designs, and I didn't care much for them either. And, their entire product line is pretty much $600 and up. For a FAN.

I know Big Ass Fans is made in the USA, but they're industrial/warehouse fans, not really something for your living room. Apparently they have added a couple home fans to their lineup, but the cheapest one (with a light) is starting at $1399... WTF.

[Popman]

Keep buying the cheapest widget and screw over your fellow American.

If given a choice, I always buy American,

Since you must have an PHD in economics, exactly how does buying the cheapest widget screw over my fellow Americans ????

Are you saying competition is unfair ?

[Svartalfiar]

Wow - I’m talking about CHANGING MINDS. Don’t just buy the cheapest thing - there are often USA made options. You’re not even willing to try.

A lot of times, there aren't. See my post above; for something as simple as a ceiling fan (Should be what, $50 for cheap-n-crappy, to maybe $300ish for super-fancy?), there are TWO American options, both of which have a single design lineup that the wife doesn't like, and both of which are priced from $600-$1400+, so there's really no choice there. You HAVE to buy the Chinese crap. If I'm gonna pay a grand for a ceiling fan, it better be gold plated and gently spread silver fairy dust when I turn it on...

[Popman]

I know Big Ass Fans is made in the USA, but they're industrial/warehouse fans, not really something for your living room.

i used to buy these for warehouses I ran....

LOL...the really large ones would be a interesting fan for your living room.

[fuzzylogic]

It won’t change over night...I get that some items are exclusively from China. That said, where possible buy “not China” and drive our culture in that direction, be vocal, share on social media.

Over time we can change this. What bothers me is the number of people with an attitude of “nothing we can do about it, so don’t bother doing anything”. That’s completely wrong.

[Svartalfiar]

Consumer buy what is on the shelf. Companies buy what is most profitability

Most consumers buy what is on the shelf, very few research their product purchases. But companies don't always go with the cheapest option - many also look at other factors like appearance, capabilities, and very importantly, reliability. If you know your Chinese widget is gonna fail after 50 uses, but a legit company's product goes for 1000+, that's a huge factor against that $.07 'savings'. Sure, a lot of stuff doesn't matter / will choose the cheap option, but many companies do look at build quality and only buy the cheap Chinese stuff if it's good enough to meet their standards. I work for a corporate AV company, and we definitely avoid most of the cheap crap; it makes you look bad to your client when the equipment fails.

[fuzzylogic]

Doesn’t take a PHD to put pressure on friends and family to buy “not China” for all our sakes. It will take time...but doing nothing means China wins.

It’s not hard to understand we all need to change and demand change. They’re a threat to our existence...I find all this “nothing can be done” talk disturbing.

[Svartalfiar]

Over time we can change this. What bothers me is the number of people with an attitude of “nothing we can do about it, so don’t bother doing anything”. That’s completely wrong.

I do see a lot of people I know who try to avoid Chinese products. The problem is that the consumer doesn't see where all the internal parts come from. Many things aren't labeled, and people just grab what's convenient, as you mentioned earlier. And, the biggest issue is time: for how many little things you buy every week, it's gonna start being a lot of time dedicated to finding alternative sources for whatever you're purchasing, and even more difficult to find comparative prices/shipping costs.

It's not going to be the little people that can really, truly fix this, it has to come from major companies with large Chinese operations (Apple, Nike, appliance manufacturers, small electronics companies), deciding to move manufacturing/production back to these US (or at least out of China), as well as FedGov putting tariffs and other pressure on Chinese imports.

[Popman]

They’re a threat to our existence

That's the rub!!!!!

They are not a threat to our existence. That's nonsense.

if you really believe that...I might recommend you educate yourself

[Popman]

But companies don't always go with the cheapest option

Absolutely...consumer satisfaction in the end is what really matters.

[usconservative]

If it says "Made in China" I'm not buying.

I made it a life choice decades ago to buy American whenever I could.

I'm sad to tell you that's not very often anymore.

Look at clothes. If they're not made in a child labor sweatshop in China, they're from Taiwan, Indonesia, Philippines or somewhere else in that part of the world. Buying American made clothes is very, VERY difficult.

And that's just one example.

Respect the principle on which you posted and I agree, putting it in practice is very difficult.

[fuzzylogic]

...pretty sure I’m not the ignorant one here. You seem to have no idea where this is all going. When infrastructure, drugs, life saving equipment, technology, etc. are all dependent on a bloody communist regime - you believe they’re NOT a threat?

How incredibly naïve.

[usconservative]

Thank you for that post. Before all this China virus crap hit I was looking to replace all my dinnerware. That's the last thing left in my house that's "post divorce."

I'm finding their website and looking at their wares. Thank you so much again for your post.

[Popman]

You said a threat to our existence

Are they or aren't they???

Of course China is a threat.... one we can confront

[usconservative]

Thanks for posting the HF Coors company for dinnerware. I just found a very nice set that I’m going to order. They’re pricier than I wanted to pay, they’re made in America by Veterans though and that’s something I very much want to support with my hard earned dollars. :-)

[fuzzylogic]

“...putting it in practice is very difficult”

I agree...but the discussion needs to start somewhere. It begins with recognizing the problems and sharing our thoughts - putting pressure on politicians, making individual choices, etc..

Too many here seem to have a “can don’t” attitude, or worse, not even recognizing the problem.

[usconservative]

Personally I think this country is going to spend the next generation rebuilding all the things necessary to be self sufficient again after all this.

The fact that China has a stranglehold on so much that we and other countries depend on ... that's gonna end.

[TheConservativeParty]

Yeah they are expensive. I would like matching serving bowls but they cost too much.

[wafflehouse]

how long has the whole 'buy american' thing been going on?
been real successful so far.

at least now there are going to be large openings for new businesses.

[fuzzylogic]

We haven’t exactly had an experience like this that exposes our vulnerabilities being so dependent on China. So that is different.

...but if people, culturally, just blow it off as though “whatever” then I agree we’ll fail. Instead, if our culture had a resurgence of taking it seriously we’d make a difference.

Besides - it doesn’t have to be ‘buy American’ - just ‘not China’, would be a nice start.