Stuff made in China

You should see the formulas that we have to use to calculate the country of origin on goods that are made up of components of mixed origin.

The general rule of thumb for many of the FTAs (Free Trade Agreements) is that the RVC (Regional Value Content) must be 35%.

There are literally 800+ pages at the beginning of the US Harmonized Tariff Schedule that deal with FTAs.

CathyA or anyone else interested in learning more about how the global economy works, I'd encourage you to check out the NPR Planet Money special series "PLanet MOney Makes a T-Shirt."

http://apps.npr.org/tshirt/#/title

It is a really entertaining and informative look at how goods get made and transported in the global economy. Tradd, there is one episode where they look at the tariff book! And explain why tshirts coming in from Bangladesh (their men's shirts) have to pay a 16.5% tariff while those from Columbia pay 0%. And if you ever wondered whether a pillow pet is a pillow or a toy, that episode will explain to you why it is very important to the manufacturer that it be considered a toy. Seriously, it is great stuff that also humanizes the people who make the things we buy -- they do in depth interviews with factory owners and workers in Columbia who are soon to lose one of their major clients (Jockey), and with young women in Bangladesh who are carving out a very different path than their rural parents, and with a cotton farmer in Alabama. Really great stuff.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jp1

The problem with country of origin is the fact that things don't just get entirely made in one country and shipped here. Even something as simple as the Planet Money t-shirts. For the men's shirts the cotton was grown in Mississippi, shipped to Indonesia where it was spun into thread, shipped to Bangledesh where the thread was woven into cloth and then sewn into shirts, then shipped back to the US. Something like a car, though, or other complex machine, likely has parts, or even whole systems (transmission, stereo, etc) made in several countries and then finally assembled somewhere. If the transmission was made in Mexico, the engine in Canada and the final car put together in Marysville Ohio is it really an American made Honda?

---

Oops -- you beat me to the Planet Money tshirt angle! I tried to post my message above yesterday, but my computer died before I had time. Yes, it is made in China but it is a 2006 Thinkpad that has been a real workhorse, so I can't complain too much. :)