OT-Question for UK, AU, Canada, etc. | Arthritis Information

You may have heard we're having real issues in the United States with some of the many, many products we import from China. I've been looking at the labels of many things I buy and was horrified to find that nearly EVERYTHING comes from China. It's even worse than I thought. I'd like to know where other countries get their products from. Do you import anything, or much from China? Where do most of your durable goods come from? I'm trying really hard to buy products made in our own country but it's soooo hard to find anything anymore. I'm even willing to pay the higher price if it will mean keeping our jobs here. Something really has to be done about this. We've sold our souls for cheap goods.

I'm sorry to say this issue is almost an untanglible mess, because in many foreign countries there are now places called "free trade zones" that "count" as other countries for manufacturing purposes, so something may have been produced in an Indonesian factory by Idonesian workers in Indonesia and still be labelled "Made in the USA".

Sorry, but this has been coming down for years via the GATS, FTAA, the NAFTA, and that super secret new one, but people setting off the alarms were considered crazy liberal conspiracy theorists. That's what all the fuss was about in Seattle, Italy and Quebec City (not to mention other countries battling their own free trade fiascos). That's what Michael Moore's movie "Roger & Me" was about. What can I say? Consumers don't have any power anymore.

"Some do it in dramatic, sweeping gestures, but most of us sell our souls to the Devil in small increments"---The Black Rider

This is what Democracy looks like.

Gimpy-a-gogo2008-03-14 15:37:51But my question is, where are most of the products made in your country? I know about our problems. I'm curious what's going on elsewhere. I don't see this as a problem that only the US has....not sure how you got that from my post. This is a problem for most if not all first world countries these days.

Well, my answer is not scientific but since the problem is globalisation I have to assume we're having about the same problem, and getting our goods from more or less the same places. Everything gets produced by whoever's willing to do it cheapest, and that usually equals whoever's willing to do it with the most pollution or human exploitation or whatever thing cuts costs. The thing with Free Trade Agreements is that counties lose sovreignity over their own economies, as well as losing control over a lot of their pollution laws and stuff like that. I'm afraid the time to be pro-active about it has come and gone, although we could all be a little more dilligent in not letting it get worse.

Areally good movie to watch to understand these issues (and what you can do about them) is The Corporation.

Gimpy-a-gogo2008-03-14 17:47:25Hmm, interesting. I'll have to check out that movie. I assumed that we weren't the only country being supplied by China, but I don't know to what extent, and if other countries import as much as we do. You're right, it's a mess. At least some foreign manufacturers are bringing their plants over here, but it's not enough. Here in Australia most of our goods are made in china also.We get a lot of things from China. We also have great customs and quarantine laws and tend to be very on guard about what comes into the country.

I tend to read labels more now than I used to, to see where stuff comes from. I am trying to buy more locally produced goods. Less transport costs, less environmental costs, more control over contents. Lots of reasons to buy local.

Its a complicated question because if we slow down imports they are going to retaliate and slow down our exports too.

Then there is this quandry..should I trade in my Toyota made in Kentucky for a Ford or Chevy made in Mexico

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Yep, me too. And I've come to realize that Walmart sells almost exclusively Chinese goods. Good old American Walmart. I now try to buy anything I can in the small local shops first and use Walmart as a last resort. Many of the small local shops sell products made locally and by buying from them, I can help our local economy and the local merchants. It's a small step but......

It just floors me how the Chinese can produce a product that's so cheap, it beats our own prices after having been shipped all the way from China to here, with the huge transportation cost that must entail. I've heard of cheap labor, but come on, what do they pay those poor people, 2 cents an hour?