China, trade, and consumer safety

[DanS]

Originally posted by Shrapnel12
but at least we're not China.

Congratulations on reaching such heights.

[DinoDoc]

How is it jingoistic to be curious what measures can be taken to stem the seemingly large tide of dangerous products coming from a single country?

[Slade Wilson]

Originally posted by guermantes


You mean as opposed the every other country in the world that refrains from trying to influence the value of their currency when they can do so? Not to speak of the US diplomatic efforts that go into maintaining the dollar's position as world currency (including punishing countries that try to trade oil in euros). Don't be so jingoistic, please.

That argument could be used to justify just about anything, "because everyone is doing it anyway". Just because other nations would gladly manipulate their currency, does not give china a blank check to do so

[guermantes]

Originally posted by Slade Wilson

That argument could be used to justify just about anything, "because everyone is doing it anyway".

Actually no, because I am not commenting China's practices, but simply wanted to put your criticism of them in perspective. It's not the same as "we-won't-stop-polluting-because-they-pollute-anyway" line of arguments.

In any case, the US trade deficit with China and the rest of the world is more structural and stems rather from the dollar's 'global currency' status which allows the US to uphold extreme levels of public and private consumption because there is never any shortage of money since the FED can just print new money (unlike all other states) that the whole world will gladly accept because they need it for buying oil any other commodities. So to say that China is using currency manipulation to achieve the deficit is just poppycock. The trade deficit with China is just one of the symptoms of the situation I describe .

[guermantes]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
How is it jingoistic to be curious what measures can be taken to stem the seemingly large tide of dangerous products coming from a single country?

It's not. I was referring to Slade's comment about currency manipulation.

[LordShiva]

What's going on with this thread? Is the server acting up again?

[Ming]

This is the second time I've had to move it from the Civ 4 forum. The first time it went back when the server went back to an older copy of the fourms.

And there was also a deleted post.

[Ninot]

This hardly belongs in off-topic.

[Q Classic]

http://www.who-sucks.com/business/made-in-china-2007-danger-timeline

[DaShi]

China's response to dangerous goods being exported out of their country: "The US puts too much red dye in the fruit juice it sends here! "

It's hard to for them to fix it, when they don't even know what the problem is.

[Lancer]

I don't mind getting killed as long as I pay a super low price for the stuff that kills me.

[Whoha]

Re: China, trade, and consumer safety

Originally posted by DinoDoc
Since it seems like every other Tuesday there's another story about poisonous or otherwise dangerous products being imported from China, would it be in US interests to start errecting barriers (quotas, tariffs, etc.) to limit the amount of havoc such products can wreak on the safety of US consumers at least until the Chinese clean house? Would such a regime be within WTO rules?

according to the rules? maybe.
According to the wto judges? probably not.

[Tingkai]

Re: China, trade, and consumer safety

Originally posted by DinoDoc
Would such a regime be within WTO rules?

If the U.S. put up trade barriers on all Chinese products because some cause problems, then yes, that would violate WTO rules.

But the U.S. can ban specific products, such as specific types of seafood, for health and safety reasons. And that's what the U.S. just did recently, banning five types of seafood.

But this won't solve the problem. We live in a global marketplace where something made in China can end up being used in, say, a Canadian product, which is then shipped to the U.S.

One American company that recently did a recall claimed it did not realize that it was using products made in China.

If you're concerned about health and safety, you should lobby your congressmen to increase the funding for the FDA and other agencies monitoring what comes into your country. These agencies don't have the money to do the job properly right now.

[couerdelion]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
How is it jingoistic to be curious what measures can be taken to stem the seemingly large tide of dangerous products coming from a single country?

Because that is what jingoism is You are implying that

a) there are huge numbers of dangerous products coming from China
b) people somehow cannot choose not to buy them
c) it is worse if these products come from an a single region.

If a faulty product is sold and causes harm, the buyer in the US has consumer protection rights which they can use to claim compensation (and sometimes punitive damages from the organisation that sold that product.

Any fault is not with china but the US consumers or their suppliers so you are looking in the wrong place for any attachment of blame.

And currency manipulation is a red herring. Just because someone says that the Chinese currency is undervalued, that does not make the statement true. By most accounts it is just about right.

The best way to make American suffer would be to erect trade tariffs and barriers or a revaluation of the yuan.

[Tingkai]

According to the Times, the worst culprits for substand food exported to the U.S. is not China, but India and Mexico.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/12/business/12imports.html?hp

Ban food from India.

The NYT also has an interesting story about the former Chinese drug regulator who was recently exceutived, a man who started out as an idealistic reformer only to become a bribe-taker responsible for many deaths.