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A new report by a British think tank shows that the U.S. is strategically dependent on China for 414 categories of imports, of which 114 service its critical national infrastructure -- and in some cases, these could pose a national security risk. China has steadily increased its share of many markets over the years under the increasingly authoritarian leadership of President Xi Jinping, who has made clear his ambitions for global dominance Today, the U.S. is strategically dependent on China for antibiotics, including penicillin and chloramphenicol; essential batteries including lithium; rare earth metals and critical elements like tungsten; vitamin supplements...

When the 65 steel drums crossed from the Canadian border in late April, the accompanying documents said they contained honey from Canada, according to U.S. government officials. Since most food products from Canada are considered safe, the honey normally would have sailed through U.S. customs. But U.S. inspectors noticed something odd. The green steel drums were marked as containing apple concentrate from China, one official said. When Food and Drug Administration investigators examined the honey inside, they found chips of green paint -- most likely from the drums themselves -- floating at the bottom of some drums. And laboratory tests...

The piles of pills scattered across the desk of Wang Hai, China's leading consumer rights champion, look like painkillers and aspirin and come with convincing packaging. But appearances can be deceptive in China. "They're all fake. They don't contain anything dangerous, but they're all completely useless and just designed to rip off the consumer," said Mr Wang. There have long been cases of such phoney pills being exported to Africa. But the most recent spate of product and food quality scandals have left the "Made in China" label in tatters around the world. Since March, exports ranging from contaminated pet...

(LITTLE ROCK, ARK.) - Tests of two Chinese brands of dog treats sold at Wal-Mart stores found traces of melamine, a chemical agent that led to another massive pet food recall in March, a spokeswoman said Tuesday. Wal-Mart quietly stopped selling Chicken Jerky Strips from Import-Pingyang Pet Product Co. and Chicken Jerky from Shanghai Bestro Trading in July, after customers said the products sickened their pets. Company spokeswoman Deisha Galberth said 17 sets of tests done on the products found melamine, a contaminant that's a byproduct of several pesticides. "There were very small amounts of melamine found," Galberth told The...

Reaping The Fruits Of A China-Dependent Economy http://www.tfp.org/TFPForum/TFPCommentary/reaping_the_fruits_of_a_china-dependent_economy.html For decades, American businessmen have been outsourcing production and setting up factories in Communist China. They cite a large and industrious work force with minimal labor costs as the reason that supposed allows them to manufacture a product at the lowest possible costs. American manufacturers employing American workers are hard-pressed to compete. Behind the façade of Asia’s industrial powerhouse, however, is the tragic reality of a society without morals. Chinese labor conditions are notoriously horrible with little or no provisions for worker safety. Wages are low, free trade unions not allowed and...

Law would streamline regulations -- if it passes The apple-blackberry sauce sold widely in Seattle supermarkets, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture organic seal on the label, says it comes from Chino, Calif. It also says "Product of Canada." So how do you know where it's from? You don't. Dried banana chips are labeled as being from Sumner. But banana trees don't grow in Sumner. Peanut butter from Canada? There are no peanut farms in that country. Congress passed a law in 2002 saying that consumers were to be told where the food they buy comes from. But five years...

Wal-Mart Stores Inc... the world's largest retailer, reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit and cut its full-year earnings forecast on Tuesday, saying its customers remain under economic pressure. Chief Executive Lee Scott blamed the disappointing performance on economic pressure around the world. "It is no secret that many customers are running out of money toward the end of the month," Scott said on a recorded conference call, adding that higher fuel prices, interest rates, utility costs and "more financial pressure" are hurting sales in its international market, including Mexico and Canada. With more than 127 million customers visiting a Wal-Mart store...

Official: China knew about magnets BEIJING, China (Reuters) -- China knew about problems with magnets on toys as long ago as March, an industry official said on Wednesday, following a second massive recall of Chinese-made Mattel toys due to hazards from small, powerful magnets. Mattel's Barbie and Tanner doll set is one of the products being recalled. 1 of 2 Mattel Inc. the largest U.S. toy company, recalled millions more Chinese-made toys on Tuesday due to hazards from the magnets and lead paint, and warned it may recall additional products as it steps up testing. "We knew about the situation,...

Americans extremely wary of China goods: poll Tue Aug 7, 9:55 PM ET U.S. consumers are extremely wary of products made in China in the wake of a series of safety scandals, with nearly two-thirds saying they would support a boycott of Chinese goods, a poll showed on Tuesday. Asked by pollster Zogby International whether they were concerned about buying Chinese products, 82 percent of respondents said yes and only 30 percent said they believed food imports from China were safe. "The recent warnings and recalls about toxic toothpaste, tainted pet food, contaminated seafood and lead paint-laced toys from China...

Chinese officals defend food quality, criticize foreign media "fabrications" www.chinaview.cn 2007-08-02 23:13:28 Print BEIJING, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- A senior Chinese official has lambasted foreign media for fabricating scares over Chinese food products. Some foreign media had viciously sensationalized product quality problems and food scares concerning a small number of Chinese goods or companies, said Vice Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng. Some media fabricated safety problems in campaigns to block imports of Chinese goods, which he described as de facto trade protectionism, he said. Gao said some foreign media reports told of Chinese boys as young as six growing moustaches and...

It’s 9 a.m. and workers are rolling up the giant doors at Grand Central Market in downtown Los Angeles. Grocers are ready for business, their stalls colorfully stocked with vegetables and fruit – green beans, squash, tomatoes, lettuces, asparagus, oranges, apples, avocados, nectarines. This open air market, and scores of groceries and supermarkets throughout Los Angeles, once offered nothing but the bounty of California, the largest agricultural state in the nation. Long the salad bowl for the nation, we became the envy of easterners who face limited selections of vegetables and fruits during winter months. It’s still true that every...

The importing of a number of fish into the US from China has been banned due to health concerns. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that all farm-raised catfish, basa, shrimp, dace and eel from China has been banned, due to concerns over drug residues that are not approved in the US for use on farm-raised aquatic animals, were found on fish. "We are taking this strong step because of current and continuing evidence that certain Chinese aquaculture products imported into the US contain illegal substances that are not permitted in seafood sold here," commented Dr David Acheson, FDA's...

China on Thursday strongly defended the quality of its exports and said it would work with the US to improve product safety in the wake of another substantial recall of goods made in China. Mattel is recalling 1.5m toys worldwide, including replicas of popular children’s television characters such as Elmo, Dora and Big Bird, because they use paint that contains too much lead, the biggest such problem to face the US toy-maker in more than a decade. The high-profile toy recall is the latest in a string of problems to face China-made goods in the US, ranging from contaminated pet...

Hidden Import Dangers by: Bethany Stotts, July 26, 2007 In the last few months, a series of reports about the looming dangers of products from Communist China has sparked a public outcry against compromised foreign safety standards. Families at home now wonder whether the fish they eat will give them cancer, whether their medications contain poison, and whether it is safe to drive before buying new tires. With the revelation that 1.5 million Tommy the Train toys have been recalled because of lead-based paint, parents have realized that even their children are not safe from these hidden dangers. On July...

When Mark Lanier, a liability lawyer in Houston, took the case of a 6-year-old girl who choked to death on a toy, he tried suing everybody in the supply chain: the fast-food restaurant that sold the toy in a children's meal, the American importer and the toy's Chinese manufacturer. The restaurant chain, Whataburger, and the importer settled for an undisclosed amount, but Lanier said he could not even find the proper entity in China to serve with a lawsuit. With Chinese imports triggering a flurry of product-safety violations in recent months, American consumers have grown increasingly anxious about how and...

If you are upset with the USA trade balance, as I am, then you may wish to check out some of the merchants on the Source URL.

The Western media have a habit of going on feeding frenzies. Ironically, when it comes to China, the latest frenzy concerns food itself. The execution this week of the former head of China's State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), Zhen Xiaoyu, who accepted almost $1 million in bribes, shows that the frenzy has now seeped into China as well. First came a spate of stories about pet food laced with melamine (a coal derivative), cough medicine and toothpaste adulterated with diethylene glycol (a sweet-tasting industrial chemical used in anti-freeze and brake fluid), toy trains decorated with lead-based paints, bacteria-infected antibiotics,...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China warned the United States on Thursday against "groundless smear attacks" against Chinese products and said it was working responsibly to address concerns over a spate of recent food safety scares.

...Nevertheless, China has been portrayed as a nation blind to hygiene and blissfully unconcerned about recent reports of food contamination. That's troubling, because it reinforces the notion that befouled food is the consequence of a foul culture. Chef and gustatory adventurer Anthony Bourdain may have said it best in a 2006 Salon interview in which he noted that there's "something kind of racist" about culinary xenophobia: "Fear of dirt is often indistinguishable from the fear of unnamed dirty people." And this, in turn, spells danger. What one might call "food libel" has long been an aspect of a larger fear...

CBNNews.com - Concern about food made in China has the government there scrambling -- and many shoppers here in the U.S. confused. With billions of food dollars at stake, serious damage control efforts are underway, both here and overseas. Trusting his gut, Frank Davis of Utah added a label to the vitamins he makes, 100 percent China-free. "I don't want to offend China," Davis said. "I'm just concerned about what's going into products, where it's coming from." A new poll confirms his instinct, finding that 74 percent of grocery shoppers in the U.S. are concerned about food from China. And...