Poll: Will you buy "Made in China"?

[Tommy Tainant]

Chinas economic development will eventually lead to a change in their political make up. Most democratic countries are relatively well off.

That's what I thought too...it is why buying from China wasn't as big of a concern. But it doesn't seem to be working as expected. Perhaps a pullback will embolden the Chinese people to demand reforms.

Its possible. I think that might be a bit messy though.

When the UK had its industrial revolution democracy wasn't a thing for anybody apart from the rich. The electorate was very limited. The widening of the mandate came with a more educated and better off peasantry.

I reckon the same might happen in China when they are well fed and warm. Fingers crossed.

 

[Penelope]

No.

 

[22lcidw]

They

Chinas economic development will eventually lead to a change in their political make up. Most democratic countries are relatively well off.

They have to many people for that to happen soon. A good portion of the population have not entered the modern world.

 

[Tommy Tainant]

They

Chinas economic development will eventually lead to a change in their political make up. Most democratic countries are relatively well off.

They have to many people for that to happen soon. A good portion of the population have not entered the modern world.

I don't know. Firms are already moving to Vietnam and Bangladesh because Chinese wages are too high. It will happen.

 

[toobfreak]

I am limited my purchases of anything made in China. Are you?

I was avoiding China shit before. Now, not unless I need it to save my life.

 

[toobfreak]

Know your bar codes:

00 - 09 ... USA & CANADA
30 - 37 FRANCE
40 - 44 GERMANY
471 ... Taiwan
49 ... JAPAN
50 ... UK
690-692 ... then it is MADE IN CHINA

Anything starting in 69 is Chinese.

 

[Fed Starving]

No choice really. Everything is made in China nowadays.

 

[Gdjjr]

Today I went to a local Academy hoping to buy an American brand (not made in the US) Wrangler Denim work shirt- they no longer carry them (I was told for about 3 years now), but, they had a Retro labeled/branded version in lighter weight mat'l at twice the price- I laughed and told them bullshit- then I went to a regional chain (Boot Barn) to see if maybe they had them- they were complying with DHS coercion and whittled their hours of operation down to 12 noon to 730 PM, it was 1130- so, I went to the local Walmart and bought a light weight Denim Wrangler shirt for 1/2 of what Academy wanted, (not a Retro labeled/branded but I bet it was from the same place, just a different label/brand and color), a pair of boat shoes I've been keeping my eye on and hoarded me some more coffee (a Folgers brand/flavor in a sack I really like), a couple of pizzas from god knows where, a loaf of bread, some air freshener, milk (from Borden packaged for Walmart for less than 2 bucks) some grade a med white eggs because they didn't have Grade A Large brown eggs I prefer and some more Walmart brand microwave pancakes which I eat everyday- wound up spending 112 bucks when I had only intended to spend 25 on a shirt at Academy-

 

[Vandalshandle]

I just ordered 100 face masks from China on Amazon. Why wouldn't I, considering that this country doesn't have their own yet.

 

[Likkmee]

I am limited my purchases of anything made in China. Are you?

I can't avoid buying stuff made in China! Almost everything here is "Made in China" (even if in the last few years I've seen some things made in Vietnam...)

The second best backpacks in the world are made by a guy I know. In Vietnam. Osprey.
#1 is USA made by Eric. The old school Jenson pack.
#1 Sleeping gear and winter gear. Jerry Wigutow( Wiggys)
Tents and rain gear. Warmlight( formerly stephensons).
Boots . Randy Merrell. sold the company. China now.
Randy still makes them. $1600. Includes a plane ticket for fitting(or used to)

Nearly everything in my shop is US and mostly quite old.

American good shit is spendy but generally lasts a LOOOOOONG time. My lathe is 1951 and my drill press is 1966.
My main welder is a Millermatic 200 from 1985.
My plasma cutter is Hypertherm 65( 2-3X the China costs)
Brakes, punches, shears are Roper-Whitney
Hand tools are Proto, Mac, Snappy, Wright,SK

I buy shit to die with

 

[Gdjjr]

Big Game tree stands are made in China and made their owner a multi- millionaire- there is also a Sprint Car chassis manufacturer XXX (triple X) that is made in China. Their competitiveness is dwarfed by who uses them.
They are less expensive though. Currently the big 3 in the World of Outlaws Sprint Car series use Maxim and J and J- 2 in Maxim one with a J and J- if I had the money for a Sprint Car team I'd go with J and J simply because most others use Maxim-

Where I used to crew chief on a sprint car (we had a Maxim) we were next door to a flooring distributor whose product came from China- I don't know anything about flooring product but just looking at what he had in inventory looked pretty good to me. He used to go there quite a bit- and he sold a lot of product.

 

[fncceo]

It's a very simple equation. Things can be made cheaper, faster and with better quality in China than they can in the US.

The Chinese government, partnered with private industry, can force workers to work longer hours, for less pay, than anything the West could match (nor would they want to).

As long at that situation remains, China will continue to be the source of the vast majority of our manufactured products.

If we want to change that, there are two ways to do that. 1). Create an underclass of extremely low paid manufacturing worker who can compete economically with China -- something no one desires. Or, 2) continue to improve the functionality and affordability of robotic automation to produce goods more efficiently and at a lower cost than China.

Until either of those happens. we will continue to buy most of our manufactured products from China.

 

[Likkmee]

A lot of nations are speeding in line with those guys and some with superior quality. Like Corazon said the Vietnamese are putting out some very good product all over the place.
Spain make some excellent tools and have for decades. Snap-On bought control in 2 companies there.
Malaysia kicks ass on some electronics and tooling as does S. Korea(LG). Taiwan.
S. Africa and Brazil are coming along OK as are India and even Pakistan w/ medical tooling and stainless steel stuff.
Mexico is quite good but even their companies sub some things to Asia.Can you imagine ? A Mexican master machinist is lucky at 6 or $8 USA pesos an hour ? No telling what a guy in Cambodia makes $2-3 ? Less ?
It's a small world now.

 

[Gdjjr]

Those low wages have, none the less, raised the standard of living in those countries. I believe that was the original goal. The unintended consequences are what we're living, but, here too, I have to ask are they really unintended, or just unexpected to generate such anger.
I'm amazed at the lack of *spirit* people display. Throughout history one of the only things that has been constant is change.
I remember reading several years ago about the piano industry and industrialization. There was a great deal of fear about what those in that industry were going to do- well, they managed, or they didn't. It wasn't the gov't's job then and it isn't the gov't's job now to fix all of our woes. It (the gov't) was established to help ensure one didn't have a legal advantage over another (ay home, between states) in the arena's of commerce and trade.
We were supposed to be able to live our lives to the best of our ability not to the best of what gov't allowed you to do or made sure you could do.

 

[candycorn]

Talk about a self-fulfilling prophecy:

Pay your workers less (i.e. get rid of union representation)
They bring home less money
Do not cut your prices to reflect the lower labor cost. In fact, raise them every year
Your workers now cannot afford to purchase what they produce
So they buy the cheaper imported model
Eventually, the plant where they work loses market share and either off-shores, cuts-back, or goes belly up
Now you're working retail making even less and purchasing the same stuff you used to produce only it's made in Shanghai instead of Shawnee, OK.

And Republicans wonder why there are those who could care less about supporting American industry.

​

 

[candycorn]

It's a very simple equation. Things can be made cheaper, faster and with better quality in China than they can in the US.

The Chinese government, partnered with private industry, can force workers to work longer hours, for less pay, than anything the West could match (nor would they want to).

As long at that situation remains, China will continue to be the source of the vast majority of our manufactured products.

If we want to change that, there are two ways to do that. 1). Create an underclass of extremely low paid manufacturing worker who can compete economically with China -- something no one desires. Or, 2) continue to improve the functionality and affordability of robotic automation to produce goods more efficiently and at a lower cost than China.

Until either of those happens. we will continue to buy most of our manufactured products from China.

Wait...wasn't Tariffs supposed to change all that? You mean the blob lied to us? Wow...can't imagine him doing that.

 

[Gdjjr]

And Republicans wonder why there are those who could care less about supporting American industry.

That's a pretty narrow POV- some would call it a narrative.
One has to consider, we live in a global economy. Period. The US builds Japanese cars in states with lower cost of living where unions are not mandatory so a comparable wage is less than what the "narrative" allows.
Bitchin and moanin won't change any facts. It could contribute to hyper-ventilation or cardiac arrest though.