/dev/null/kevin

steve and li were talking and steve said 'jeez li you guys sure can make a lot of stuff, the quality is good and you make it cheaply too'

li said 'thanks steve'

steve said 'but li it's really killing us, you know. you can make more things and sell them for less than we can to all the other people. couldn't you like, stop making so much stuff or make it really expensive. we've been talking and we have worked out a way we can adjust your currency to make it much harder for you to compete, what do you say?'

li said 'eh? sorry comrade but wouldn't that be against every principle of your sacred capitalist open market?'

steve said '...umm that was only a good system when it made us wealthy and powerful, things are different now...'

li said 'i'm sorry steve, we'll just have to let the markets decide'

steve muttered something under his breath.

within weeks of the chinese refusing the ridiculous request of the u.s. govt, to adjust their currency to remove the positive benefits it offered their export trade, the anti chinese product propaganda machine was stepped up.

u.s. citizens buying chinese textiles (for example) for a third of the price of a us equivalent, is good news for the buyer but very bad news for the us textile industry.

they couldn't beat the chinese in the market place or with diplomacy so i guess this is a tactic of last resort.

it's not that there are no dangerous and defective products being produced by the chinese for export, of course there are. as there are similar products being produced by every country who sell stuff in the us (and by some u.s. companies too). that's why there are govt bodies in most countries to protect citizens from such dangers. products are stopped every day.

All that is required is to focus media attention on a series of defects that come from china, without any wider context. combine this with a couple of high profile product recalls and you have made a start on destroying the image of you competitors.

the worst aspect of all this is the fact that they chose child oriented products to make their attack. the reasons are obvious. telling me that the chinese made motorcycle i am about to buy is not as durable (or even maybe as safe) as a domestic equivalent might not stop me from buying it, if the price is half that of the domestic bike. it's a case of buyer beware.

we know that cheap stuff is not as good as expensive stuff. we estimate the 'risks' and make a decision. with children it is different. we buy for another person who is in our charge. their protection is paramount and we will not take any risks where kids are involved. simple.

in europe there is no confusion about what is happening between the u.s. and china and their new commerce cold war. we can, of course remember that the first casualty of war is always the truth. the story is being told to us through our media, more or less as described above. we buy a LOT of chinese products, our industries are struggling to compete. That’s how the market place works.

u.s. citizens should buy “american”, they should pay more cash for a domestic equivalent to an identical foreign product. simple as. not to invest in your own manufacturing base is to accept it’s inevitable demise. But this has to come from the people, from their belief in their nation, not from false xenophobic fear.

the big problem is universal, as a species, we are much more interested in what the dollar can do for us that what we can do for the dollar (insert relevant currency).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7080573.stm

mattel admitting that 85% of their product recall was due to u.s. design faults and not connected with chinese manufacture at all.

Posted by vectorsync on November 06, 2007 at 05:46 AM PST #