Stuff made in China

[CathyA]

Its really hard to find ANYTHING not made in China. I've always been a label-checker, and it seems like "made in China" refers to just about anything these days. Much more so than even a couple years ago.

Do you find it hard to buy much, without it coming from China?

How can we whine and moan about no jobs for people, when we seem to be entirely dependent on China for all our needs?

Its crazy. Sometimes I'm just a little relieved when I see "made in Japan".

We send our plastics over there, so they can make us stuff and send it back.
Now we're sending our chickens over there to be processed and sent back here.

Can't we make it harder on companies to NOT send jobs there, or is that against the law??
Another one of those catch 22's with freedom and capitalism, etc.

So many products (especially in the grocery store) are labelled as "packaged" or "distributed in the U.S." To me, that's saying it comes from somewhere else, but they're hoping all people will see is the "U.S." and think its made here.

Where would I start, if I wanted to write/make phone calls regarding the labelling of food? .....and other products too.
I'm appreciative that the U.S. DOES have lots of requirements about some of the labelling.....like nutrition, ingredients, etc. I just want to be sure I know where it comes from.

[bae]

Boy, if it's not those darned Mexicans, it's the sneaky Chinese....

[Spartana]

I also find it extremely difficult (almost impossible!) to find anything that was made in the USA and not made in China. I think the main reason for this is solely cost. We, as consumers, are unwilling to pay the high prices that we would have to if we had most things made in America. China can have a pretty low wage, unregulated work force that earns pennies on the dollar compared to a worker in the USA. We have to pay at least minimum wage - and often more if jobs are unionized - and things like over time pay, health insurance, disability, and other insurances, and all the other benefits full time workers are entitled to under US Labor Laws. Add to that the various employer taxes, regulatory costs, real estate and utility costs, etc... and that $4 tee shirt made in China would become the $25 tee shirt made in the USA. I don't have a solution other than encouraging people to buy USA made products even if it costs more to do so.

[lmerullo]

Ha! Your timing is spot on! I am dealing with getting replacement warranty parts for my leather sofa and loveseat - made by what I thought was an American manufacturer - shipped in from China. Mind you, I have been patiently waiting for almost three months! I did not think I would be facing hosting a Christmas gathering with these DISGUSTING couches! I bought them ON PURPOSE due to the name brand, again because I wrongly assumed they were an American company.

[razz]

I used to think that it was just the latest eras that had this offshore products/labour issue until I read about the past centuries in which traders have been searching out cheap foreign sources for material and labour. Think of the East India Company, the whole imported slave trade for eons, the travel to explore new sources around the world since the days of Alexander the Great. It is just more of what has been going on forever.
In this period it is China; it was Japan. Where is it going to show up next?

North and South America have been the source of both raw resources and labour for European companies, kings and dictators and made the local Europeans grumble when their efforts were undercut in price and outsourced.
I think that it is the poor quality that may be the worst effect but I stand to be corrected on that as well.

[Spartana]

I used to think that it was just the latest eras that had this offshore products/labour issue until I read about the past centuries in which traders have been searching out cheap foreign sources for material and labour. Think of the East India Company, the whole imported slave trade for eons, the travel to explore new sources around the world since the days of Alexander the Great. It is just more of what has been going on forever.
In this period it is China; it was Japan. Where is it going to show up next?

North and South America have been the source of both raw resources and labour for European companies, kings and dictators and made the local Europeans grumble when their efforts were undercut in price and outsourced.
I think that it is the poor quality that may be the worst effect but I stand to be corrected on that as well.

Yep, the US was once Britain's "China". The east coast was nothing but a wood (massive deforestation of the New England woods) and coal-fuel driven manufacturing mecca of cheap labor (often child labor) to provide cheap exports to Europe. Before "off-shoring" that work to the states, Britain and much of Europe was under a cloud of industrialized manufacturing..as well as the same smog problems as they currently have in China. Remember all the dire circumstances of the under-class and working class in Dicken's novel? Most may have been true enough.

[Sad Eyed Lady]

http://madeinusachallenge.com/made-i...a-master-list/

This might help - I haven't looked at it closely myself, but it's nice to see things all in one place without having to search for each item to see where it was made. I agree about the made in China stuff, after the recalls with pet food and treats that had caused many deaths, and even before that it was baby formula, then I don't want to risk it. If it is something that is going in my body or on my body, such as a lotion on my face, hands etc. I prefer either made in the USA or Canada.

[ApatheticNoMore]

You will probably have better luck not buying made in China if you buy online. Like for instance I recently got a skillet and a pot .. made in France (well it's literally not made in China). The stores are probably all made in China for the same type of thing.

Can't we make it harder on companies to NOT send jobs there, or is that against the law??

It might be at this point depending on how the law was written. That type of thing is what is in trade laws (among other things). What people worry about with the TPP (one of the latest trade laws on the way to be passed) is that it will make it impossible to pass any laws that interfere with company profits in any way among other things. And yes it might make even labelling even country of orgin illegal.

[freein05]

I have bought jeans from the company's link below and all of their clothing is made in the USA. I even think they are union made. I paid $38.00 for pair of jeans I just bought. That is about the same price you would pay for ones made in China. They are well made and last a long time.

http://www.allusaclothing.com/default.asp

[iris lilies]

Theoretically I don't mind where it is made. I mind that the cheap crap is the cheapest crap that is possible. Chinamen could make better quality stuff if we required it of them.

Tonight DH was talking to me about screen doors. Ho screen doors used to be made to open from either the left or the right. They came with stuff to install them. But now they are made so that the installer installs the ? frame? and base and top, and drills the holes to make it a left or right opening door. This cuts down on their production costs. But it's more work for the installer.

He said that the same model for a lighting fixture, for instance--the beginning of the fixture is made at one Chinese factory. The end of the run will be made at another factory and even though it is the same model--all of the parts are not interchangeable because the standards are crap.