Posted on 08/30/2007 3:41:27 AM PDT by nuconvert
China says toy recall scare shows protectionist agenda
Aug 30, 2007
Mattel has only itself to blame for a huge toy recall that has stoked global alarm about Chinese-made goods, state media said on Thursday, charging that a slew of foreign safety scares had exposed a protectionist agenda.
Mattel Inc, the world's largest toymaker, recalled over 18 million Chinese-made toys this month because of risks from small magnets that can injure children if swallowed, just two weeks after it recalled 1.5 million toys due to fears over lead paint.
Coming in the wake of warnings over Chinese-made toothpaste, pet food, tires, eels and seafood, and lethal chemicals that had found their way into medicine, the toy recall has magnified calls in Washington for much tougher scrutiny of such imports.
The overseas edition of the People's Daily, the ruling Communist Party's official paper, continued Beijing's recent counter-offensive, putting the spotlight on multinationals that have used China as a production base.
"If it comes down to blame, then it all lies with the U.S. side," the paper said of the Mattel magnet recall, noting that the problem was a design defect. "The Chinese manufacturer only produced according to those specifications."
A China-based company that let lead in the toy paint would be punished, but even here Mattel must share blame, the paper said, noting that the U.S. firm had worked with it for over a decade.
The paper said foreign media reports about unsafe Chinese food and products were exaggerated and ignored the good record of nearly all the country's exporters.
"People have reason to fear that some government officials and media in the United States hope to use doubts about the overall quality of Chinese goods to press for narrow trade protection."
Over half of China's exports were produced by foreign investors and joint ventures, the paper said.
"If product quality is sub-standard, foreign businesses and joint ventures cannot shirk their blame," it said.
On Thursday, a China-based toy maker also dismissed criticism of brutal conditions at their factories leveled by a U.S.-based rights group in the wake of the Mattel toy recall.
"The foreign organization does not understand how difficult it is for us to find and keep skilled workers because of stiff competition," Mark Yi, Hong Kong owner of a toy factory in Guangdong province, told the China Daily referring to the U.S.-based China Labor Watch.
"We have tried every means to improve the living and working environment of workers. My company now offers at least 30 to 50 percent higher salaries than it did three or four years ago, but we simply do not have enough workers during peak seasons."
China Labor Watch said it had found brutal conditions and labor violations at eight Chinese plants that make toys for big multinationals, and called on the companies to improve standards.
They ignored the warnings and manufactured their products in China anyway. China is simply doing what China does. There’s no interest in transparancy, it is all about short term gain and saving face. Screw’em.
I've been saying that all along. The buck stops with Mattel, Iams,__________[Fill in the Blank].
I think Rush said it best...a tiger is a tiger. tigers do what tigers do. a snake is a snake. snakes do what snakes do. a communist totalitarian regime whose short term goal is rapid acquisition of wealth is a communist totalitarian regime whose short term goal is rapid acquisition of wealth. They do what they do. You should not be surprised by their actions.
99.9% of these cupcakes are wholesome, but one in a thousand will kill you. Why does everyone yell and scream about the one, instead of complimenting us on the 99.9% that have no problem?
They Just Don't Get It.
There are about a Hundred Thousand personal injury attorneys who agree whole-heartedly!
Chi-com products are poorly crafted using any and every shortcut to maximize profits. Same for all those companies that have moved their manufacturing plants there.
Why purchase chineese crap to begin with?
I think that Martel shares part of the blame, which Martel should have selected another country to setup factories which saftey standards are high, and which the nationalities are very aware of sadtey standards of products, but China alone is the most to blame for its corrupted regulations, low saftey standards, and habits of Chinese alone for their lack of interest in saftey, and more focused on profit even life is at risk by components of their products. The entire US firms having factories in China should immidiately remove them, and move them to another country.
chicoms lie... they are the uber-left!
LLS
Too true. Can’t really blame them for aiming on an easy target though.
I have a 3 year old grandaughter and a 5 year old grandson...I’m not buying made in China toys for them..or clothes...many FReepers are doing the same...wonder what impact this will have on toy sales at Christmas????? Wal-mart only has made in China toys on their shelves, and I suspect the other toy sellers are the same way since 90% of toys are made in China. I told the girl at Wal-mart when I called yesterday I wasn’t going to buy made in China toys for birthday’s or Christmas, she said they’d removed the bad ones...I said they have a habit of recalling them in 6 months for lead content so why should I spend my scarce $$ on a risky purschase? Then I told them they’d lost $$ to Hobby Lobby and Hancocks because they’d quit selling fabric at my Wal-Mart.
I hope that other companies that have moved their manufacturing operations to Red China take note of everything that happened and is being said now by the PRC about the recalls.
Well, sadly because there are now no alternatives. I've been looking around and everything is now made in China.
Everything? Meaning toys?
They get it just fine, they’re just spinning it away.
Maybe this is a business opportunity for people to manufacture toys here. Automation has come a long way, labor costs could be minimized. I hear that Hyundai has a plant in Alabama that assembles their cars. The entire plant has 38 employees!
Just a thought...I expect a percentage...;)
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