Should the U.S. Ban ALL Imports From China???
By LadyMarissa
@LadyMarissa (12148)
United States
November 15, 2010 4:26pm CST
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/11/15/2010-11-15_reusable_grocery_bags_made_in_china_found_to_contain_lead_fueling_calls_for_fda_.html
Let me start by saying that I in NO way mean this to be for the purpose of bashing any of my Chinese friends!!! So, please keep this in mind while responding!!!! I mean this to be more of a rant from news I heard on WGN9/Chicago IL noon news today & as reported in the New York Daily News. It seems that the goods we import from China are putting our lives in danger once again. It was announced today, that some of the reusable bags imported from China have high levels of lead thereby dangerous to our bodies!!! If you remember, just last year, plastic was being put in our powdered milk & cocoa mixes. This seems to be an ongoing problem with imports from China!!! When will enough become enough??? I don't understand WHY we continue to accept imports from China on inferior products!!! If things like this only happened once, I'd think it was a mistake. Since it continues to happen on one product after another, I feel it is time to STOP the imports from China!!! We don't make inferior products here; so, WHY should we buy inferior products from there??? I in NO way hold the Chinese people responsible for this problem...leaning more toward their government & our own government here in the US!!! I feel that if they continue to ship inferior products to us, then we should stop ALL imports from China!!! At this rate, China won't have to declare war against us, they will just be able to weaken the entire population over a period of years so we'll be unable to defend ourselves. OK, now it's time for you to rant or not rant as you choose!!!
1 person likes this
6 responses
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
16 Nov 10
If we banned stuff from China, where would we get our stuff?! The U.S. hardly makes anything anymore--it is too expensive what with minimum wages, unions, taxes and the like.
We need to get manufacturing going here. That means both labor and employer concessions. I tried not buying anything from China and it was nearly impossible to avoid.
If we cut off all imports from China it will start a trade war that will be detrimental to the U.S. and we can't afford that right now. We must start making our own goods.
@spalladino (17891)
• United States
15 Nov 10
This is a complicated issue. On the one hand our government should be looking out for our best interests and start placing severe limitations on what we allow China to import into this country. On the other hand, the US and China have to watch each other's backs. Cut China's ability to import cheap junk to the U.S. and maybe China won't be so willing to buy those treasury bonds we sell along with putting the brakes on anything we export to their country.
@LadyMarissa (12148)
• United States
16 Nov 10
They need the interest off the Treasury Bonds they buy. They need the profit off the lousy goods they export to us. I just think they should be held accountable for the crap they're selling us!!!! A US company that operates about 50 miles from where I live was put out of business because they sell children's alphabet blocks. They have been selling them for over 15 years with NO bad tests ever found. They were NOT using lead based paints on their product. Yet they were told they'd have to have a test run on EVERY batch to prove their product contained NO lead. The test cost $100 each & the items produced were being sold for $5.00. Yet we import item after item full of lead based products from China. Please explain the logic to me???
@peavey (16936)
• United States
23 Nov 10
If they suddenly stopped all imports from China, we'd be in a mess. So much of what we use daily is imported from there that we don't even know about. Components don't have country of origin listed when they're used in other things. Not just toys, but computers, microwaves, stoves, tvs, herbs and lots more, come from China and are not labeled.
There's the economic impact, too. If they stopped imports from China, a lot of people wouldn't be able (or wouldn't give up something else) to afford to buy more expensive products made here and elsewhere.
W can, each of us, make sure to buy American every time we possibly can. I will stretch my budget to the utmost to buy US made products rather than buy something cheaper made in China.
@BarBaraPrz (45591)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
15 Nov 10
Without the cheap imports from China, the dollar stores would have very little inventory.
@icehut (508)
•
16 Nov 10
It's not China that's the issue. No country wants to give itself a bad reputation. The problem comes down to greed on the part of the middle-men. Joe Public is prepared to pay $20 for a chair. Bob Importer can only secure a deal with the retailer if he charges no more than $5 per unit. Bob Importer approaches his agent in China, offering to buy bulk if he can buy at $1 per unit, knowing all too well that there will be a compromise with quality and safety. The agent accepts and approaches a factory in China with his order and pays $0.10 per unit. To cover costs, the agent approves the use of substitutes. This is exactly how Victorian bakers made up for expensive flour - they bulked up flour with sawdust, chalk, plaster of paris and alum. You can't blame the Chinese government for not acting either - they executed two middle-men last year that were involved in tainted baby food and placed another in prison for life.
