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So far it's been poison pet food, contaminated tooth paste, toys loaded with lead based paints for kids and now tires from Firestone that are defective. Our insatiable desire for “stuff,” actually for “stuff that’s really cheap,” only seems to be making China a world power economically. The true cost of pets that became sick and some died, toys that can lead to serious health and developmental issues and now tires, like Firestone REALLY learned from their last round of poor quality, that can cause serious injury or even death due to poor quality, leads me to ask; is it really worth it?

Two more US product recalls as China cracks down
by Paul Handley
Fri Aug 10, 5:20 AM ET



WASHINGTON (AFP) - A quarter-million Chinese-made car tires were recalled Thursday by a US importer as Beijing cracked down on manufacturers held responsible for a massive recall by toy giant Mattel last week.

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In the latest in a slew of callbacks of faulty and tainted Chinese products, US importer Foreign Tire Sales Inc. (FTS) of Union, New Jersey, recalled 255,000 defective Chinese-made automobile tires, saying they posed a hazard.

Separately, the Chicago Tribune reported that US toy firm Schylling Associates voluntarily recalled 24,000 Chinese-made "Thomas & Friends" spinning tops from 2001-2002 with wooden knobs that were painted with lead-based paint.

Schylling, of Rowley, Massachusetts, told the Tribune it had replaced the tainted wooden knobs on the tops with plastic five years ago but had never issued a recall on toys already sold.

"On Wednesday, we learned that a Thomas & Friends top was found to contain lead," Jack Schylling, President of Schylling Toys, said in a statement Thursday.

"We immediately initiated a voluntary recall of 51,000 tops in the Thomas & Friends, Curious George and Circus top lines."

Foreign Tire Sales said in a statement that the steel-belted radial tires for light trucks and sport-utility vehicles lacked gum strips, or had gum strips that were too small, which could cause tread separation -- the catastrophic defect that led to the 2000 recall of 17 million Firestone tires.

The company said the defect "posed a safety hazard," and said the Chinese manufacturer, Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Co., had "changed the construction of the tires without informing FTS."

According to reports, FTS was sued after two people died in an accident allegedly caused by a faulty tire.

The new recalls come in the wake of a series of Chinese product problems, including two major toy recalls in recent weeks due to the use of toxic lead paint.

China said earlier Thursday it had suspended exports by manufacturers linked to those recalls.

Hansheng Woodware Factory and Lee Der Industrial Co, both in southern China, cannot export until they "correct the problems and become qualified," China's quality administration said in a statement on its website.

Lee Der supplied the nearly one million toys recalled on August 1 by US toy giant Mattel's Fisher-Price subsidiary.

In a statement, the government quality watchdog blamed Lee Der's paint supplier for providing "fake lead-free paint powder," and said those responsible, if they broke the law, would be "handed over to the judicatory department for severe punishment."

Hansheng Woodware made 1.5 million wooden "Thomas the Train" figures which were recalled by US toy importer RC2 Corp. in June.

A staff member at Hansheng, who declined to give her name, said the export suspension was temporary.

Problems with products exported to the US have dogged the Chinese government all year.

In May, US Food and Drug Administration officials launched a probe in China into the source of tainted feed that may have killed thousands of pets in the United States and was also used to feed chicken and pigs.

Other problems have surfaced with toothpaste and seafood imported from China.

Despite the latest safety scare, Beijing's quality administration defended the country's toy products and called for the overseas importers and brand owners to also shoulder responsibility.

"The overwhelming majority of toys made in China meet US standards. Of about 300,000 batches for export in 2006, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission only made about 29 recalls," it said.

No it is not worth it, but convincing the millions of people that shop at the discount mega stores is the problem. Personally, I will not purchase anything made in China. I do look for USA first and will make an extra effort to find US products, (my $6 a pair underwear will attest to that) Yes I pay extra
(a lot sometimes)

Not only are we receiving dangerous products but it is severly undermining our economy. The Chinese Govt has been buying US bonds with the surplus they have been receiving. They are now threatening to dump those bonds which would cause interest rates to raise and cripple our economy. The chinese making these products is also taking away career possibilities for the high school "under achievers". Back in the 40's-60's. If you were not a rocket scientist, there were still factory jobs that promised security and enough income that you could live the american dream. Those jobs are gone and you can't support a family on a mall job. We need manufacturing jobs to return to the US so we can make Capital. A service economy eventually runs out of capital.

Well said, Skibo!

My motto:

Build China's Navy.
Look for the made in China label.




But let's face it. It is very hard to avoid imported material. This includes food. Can it be done? Sure, but someone better provide a very very big list and find alternatives. For example, I think more then Zenith should be a choice for a TV set. So I then suggest no one buys a wide screen TV until more then one company manufacture the sets here. That's not going to happen.

I know I'm not going to skip buying Taxi Driver next week because the box was made overseas. I'm not going to stop watching The Simpsons because much of the animation is done in Korea.

Be obedient. Consume.

China is secretly trying to GET us through merchandise. It's sneakier and easier than war.

And no, I don't have a pair of noids.

Skibo wrote:No it is not worth it, but convincing the millions of people that shop at the discount mega stores is the problem. Personally, I will not purchase anything made in China. I do look for USA first and will make an extra effort to find US products, (my $6 a pair underwear will attest to that) Yes I pay extra
(a lot sometimes)

Not only are we receiving dangerous products but it is severly undermining our economy. The Chinese Govt has been buying US bonds with the surplus they have been receiving. They are now threatening to dump those bonds which would cause interest rates to raise and cripple our economy. The chinese making these products is also taking away career possibilities for the high school "under achievers". Back in the 40's-60's. If you were not a rocket scientist, there were still factory jobs that promised security and enough income that you could live the american dream. Those jobs are gone and you can't support a family on a mall job. We need manufacturing jobs to return to the US so we can make Capital. A service economy eventually runs out of capital.

Well said, but the cost of manufacturing anything in the US is so high it is prohibitive. Think of it this way. It costs less to build something in China, packgae it, put it on a truck or railcar, drive that vehicle to a port load it on a boat, ship it across the largest ocean in the world, unload it at another port, put it on another truck and drive it to your local store, than it costs to build it the next town or state over and drive it to your local store. There is something wrong with that picture.

A woman wrote a book on the subject recently was on GMA, and they lived without anything from China for one full year..... everything is made in China, will start buying usa only products as often as possible.....

very scary, those darn chinese ..... no offense to our chinese friends out there.

docandjeanie wrote:A woman wrote a book on the subject recently was on GMA, and they lived without anything from China for one full year..... everything is made in China, will start buying usa only products as often as possible.....

very scary, those darn chinese ..... no offense to our chinese friends out there.

That might be something to think about-just buying products made ONLY in the U.S.A. Not easy, but it can be done. I'll TRY, although most items these days ARE made in China. But I'll sure try.

HOWEVER,
I WILL NOT, WILL NOT, WILL NOT give up my egg rolls, fried won ton, or crab meat rangoon!

No it's not worth it, at all.

Whatever happened to the signs Wal Mart once displayed, "Ten American jobs saved" or "This product is proudly made in Winston Salem by John and his fellow co-workers"
Don't recall seeing those anymore.

Wino you know wrote:

docandjeanie wrote:A woman wrote a book on the subject recently was on GMA, and they lived without anything from China for one full year..... everything is made in China, will start buying usa only products as often as possible.....

very scary, those darn chinese ..... no offense to our chinese friends out there.

That might be something to think about-just buying products made ONLY in the U.S.A. Not easy, but it can be done. I'll TRY, although most items these days ARE made in China. But I'll sure try.

HOWEVER,
I WILL NOT, WILL NOT, WILL NOT give up my egg rolls, fried won ton, or crab meat rangoon!

and the lo mein and shrimp rolls, tooo...... it's way past lumch time, going out to get some of those right now....

bye all, be back later

docandjeanie wrote:

Wino you know wrote:

docandjeanie wrote:A woman wrote a book on the subject recently was on GMA, and they lived without anything from China for one full year..... everything is made in China, will start buying usa only products as often as possible.....

very scary, those darn chinese ..... no offense to our chinese friends out there.

That might be something to think about-just buying products made ONLY in the U.S.A. Not easy, but it can be done. I'll TRY, although most items these days ARE made in China. But I'll sure try.

HOWEVER,
I WILL NOT, WILL NOT, WILL NOT give up my egg rolls, fried won ton, or crab meat rangoon!

and the lo mein and shrimp rolls, tooo...... it's way past lumch time, going out to get some of those right now....

bye all, be back later

we make our own crab meat rangoon, don't believe China had anything to do with any of the ingredients, not even the wraps.

I've never eaten any food prepared at the local China whatever and you might want to check their last health inspection before you do, again..

If I were to eat any of dishes prepared at these places, I'd make my own, and that includes egg rolls...

It's not just cheap stuff!
I remember some of that pet food was the expensive stuff you buy from the Vet's office!

I also remember seeing a piece on the TV about a guy starting a "movement" to try to get products to be labeled NOT MADE IN CHINA.
It's grass roots right now, and when I told my husband about it, he just rolled his eyes thinking the guy didn't have much of a chance, but I think it's a good idea and I think folks would choose products so labeled.

China isn't the only problem, they are just getting the press now because they are killing people in the US. There are many other third world countries that are manufacturing for us that are just as bad or worse than China. Remember the scandal a few years ago over Kathy Lee having her clothing made in third world sweat shops? No americans died over it but many of these cheaper to manufacture places do not treat their employees very well. And don't even get me started on their impact on the enviroment. China has had a few publicized (poorly) events of hazmat dumping, their emmissions aren't that healthy either. Mexico is another country that has more toxic waste problems than New Jersey.

Here is a recent report on the real Chinese threat to the US. I really don't understand why China is embraced and the rest of the third world dictatorships are viewed as evil empires. Every administration has done this since Nixon.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.j ... ina108.xml

In other words, they own us, because of our own greed; and they are threatening to make our economy collapse if we take action against them.

While that's obviously devastating to us, wouldn't they be biting the hand that feeds them?

Skibo wrote:Here is a recent report on the real Chinese threat to the US. I really don't understand why China is embraced and the rest of the third world dictatorships are viewed as evil empires. Every administration has done this since Nixon.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.j ... ina108.xml

The US is afraid of the Chinese, and this report says why...

green1 wrote:

Skibo wrote:No it is not worth it, but convincing the millions of people that shop at the discount mega stores is the problem. Personally, I will not purchase anything made in China. I do look for USA first and will make an extra effort to find US products, (my $6 a pair underwear will attest to that) Yes I pay extra
(a lot sometimes)

Not only are we receiving dangerous products but it is severly undermining our economy. The Chinese Govt has been buying US bonds with the surplus they have been receiving. They are now threatening to dump those bonds which would cause interest rates to raise and cripple our economy. The chinese making these products is also taking away career possibilities for the high school "under achievers". Back in the 40's-60's. If you were not a rocket scientist, there were still factory jobs that promised security and enough income that you could live the american dream. Those jobs are gone and you can't support a family on a mall job. We need manufacturing jobs to return to the US so we can make Capital. A service economy eventually runs out of capital.

Well said, but the cost of manufacturing anything in the US is so high it is prohibitive. Think of it this way. It costs less to build something in China, packgae it, put it on a truck or railcar, drive that vehicle to a port load it on a boat, ship it across the largest ocean in the world, unload it at another port, put it on another truck and drive it to your local store, than it costs to build it the next town or state over and drive it to your local store. There is something wrong with that picture.

if it were a level playing field with wages at a living rate, as well as identical environmental regs (we may not be great at enforcing ours, but at least we recognize the effects of dumping toxics into the water and ground), the cost of production in China, Mexico, and other 3rd world countries comes closer to ours.

Instead of making sure the world as we knew it stays, we have started racing for the bottom.

When you keep shopping at WAL-MART, and you examine the percentage of Far Eastern-made goods in your basket...

you keep supporting CHINA!! (brought to you by ONE ultra-rich American family, thank you)

..and they have the unmitigated GALL to call themselves "America's Superstore"??

..wake the hell up already!

oh, but the prices...

Lightning Bolt wrote:When you keep shopping at WAL-MART, and you examine the percentage of Far Eastern-made goods in your basket...

you keep supporting CHINA!! (brought to you by ONE ultra-rich American family, thank you)

..and they have the unmitigated GALL to call themselves "America's Superstore"??

..wake the hell up already!

oh, but the prices...

who, along with the family behind the Mars Candy fortune and a few others, managed to push for repeal of the "death tax" to hang onto all that non-self-generated wealth... the only consolation is that in 3-4 generations, it will all be pi$$ed away like the Vanderbilt fortune was.

Lightning Bolt wrote:When you keep shopping at WAL-MART, and you examine the percentage of Far Eastern-made goods in your basket...

1.-you keep supporting CHINA!! (brought to you by ONE ultra-rich American family, thank you)

2.-..and they have the unmitigated GALL to call themselves "America's Superstore"??

3.-..wake the hell up already!

4.-oh, but the prices...

Good points, Brad.
HOWEVER:
1-Yeah, most of their crap is made in China, but so is the majority of stuff made in the other discount stores, i.e., Target, K-Mart, Ben Franklin, etc.
The MAJORITY of stuff I buy at Wal Mart is tolietries (toothpaste, razor blades, shampoo, etc.), cleaning supplies, and occasionally a C.D. or DVD.
None of which are made in China, but things I have to have.
I DON'T buy electonic things like TV's, V.C.R.s/DVD players, or even cameras there because if I have any questions about them, the kids working there for minimum wage usually have NO idea what I'm talking about. I'll go to a specialty store (Best Buy, Radio Shack, F.Y.E., etc.) and get a salesperson who knows about the product I'm buying. It may be a few dollars more, but (to me) it's worth it.


2.-That's because it's where MOST Americans shop. And again, it's really hard NOT to find stuff made in China anywhere you go.
Guess where your American flag was made?

3.-I keep telling people that myself, but probably for different reasons than you.

4-Yeah, well, most people shop according to their means, which isn't always a BAD thing.
For me, Wal Mart is the closest store, and, usually, the least expensive. I'm able to save what I save because I only buy what I can afford WHEN I can afford to buy it.

(brought to you by ONE ultra-rich American family, thank you)

Sorry, but when was the last time a POOR person gave so many people so many jobs?
The ORIGINAL Mr. Sam Walton treated his employees very well. It's his descendants that are giving him a bad name.
That all being said, yes, I shop there for the prices and convenience.
Sorry if the employees are treated like peons, but nobody is forcing them to work there.