The solution is to inspect here, on US soil, where we have full control.
If the imported products don’t meet our specifications for safety and purity, then we tell the shipper: “Take it back, we’re refusing entry to this product.”
Simple. We used to do it all the time.
Ah, but this is too expensive for the “free trade uber alles” crowd, who want “economic efficiency” above all else. They contend that we must inspect at the source, so as to eliminate the possibility that there would be a wasted shipping turn on the products because of destination country rejection.
My attitude is different. I say that we should inspect imports here, on US soil, with full control of the situation. If the products don’t pass our inspections, we turn the shipment around and send it back to the producer on the other end, and *at their expense*, not ours.
After a year or so of this policy, no one will export anything to the US that doesn’t meet our standards, because the mere act of refusal will be tantamount to a fine and penalty. Exporters to the US would double down on their inspections and conformance testing to be sure that they got by our inspectors.
That’s just too much for the “free trade uber alles” crowd. They’d rather see your dog, kids or even your entire family die... just as long as they minimize costs.
You're right that the free traitors will scream like stuck pigs if you suggest that we subject chinese products coming in to the same red tape we subject domestic products. Of course the FDA is more interested in doing Monsanto's bidding and going after anybody who produces non-toxic food, than actually inspecting the foreign and big-ag poison being sold as food to Americans.