One mom's fruitless quest to boycott China

[Contrary1]

"There’s a package of Hanes boys’ cotton socks on my desk that I ordered online a few weeks ago, but I refuse to give them to my 5-year-old son even though they’d fit him perfectly.
Why? They’re made in China.

Every day we’re inundated with recalls of lead-tainted and other unsafe products from China. A U.S. government Web site offers an alarming list of hazardous toys, almost all of which were made in China — everything from lead-tainted Curious George dolls to exploding remote control planes.

<snip>

I figured shopping online would be my best option, because the megachains are awash with China toys and clothing. But it turns out that online retailers are not that open with information about country of origin. Many just say “imported,” and I have spent lots of time calling 800 numbers or e-mailing my “Is it made in China?” question to retailers. In most cases so far the answer is yes.

So I was pleasantly surprised when I called Hanes before I ordered the socks off the company’s Web site and a customer service representative assured me the products I chose were not made in China. I went ahead and ordered them..."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21825517/

[lame54]

1. you should shop here...

...sorry they don't have underwear

http://www.politicalgateway.com/news/read/109213

Trader Joe's backs off Chinese goods

CHICAGO, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- Trader Joe's grocery markets will phase out all single-ingredient products from mainland China by Jan. 1, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Saturday.

"We feel confident that all of our products from China meet the same high quality standards that we set for all of our products," said a statement from the company. "However, our customers have voiced their concerns about products from this region and we have listened."

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5561565665179751904

[Clark2008]

3. And they're not located all over the country.

I had never heard of a Trader Joe until I started visiting this board.

[kestrel91316]

6. Thank you, TJ's!!!!!

[NewJeffCT]

2. Why are these goods being let into the country in the first place?

And, aren't the US companies importing these goods doing any sort of quality inspection on the products?

China may be producing a lot of shitty products, but the US companies outsourcing the manufacture to China are at least equally at fault, along with whoever inspects these items when they get imported to the US.

[Beerboy]

4. It doesn't have to be fruitless when it comes to auto-parts,

I will not install cheap/defective brake parts on my car made by slave labor in China @ gunpoint. There's a small premium of 5 or 10 bucks to get the parts you need made in a free-country like Canada.
Next time you take your car in for a brake job, make sure to ask if any of the parts come from the shoddy defective Chinese dictatorship, make them look it up.
If all they have is Chinese parts, limp along to the next shop...

[Scairp]

5. I too am sick of Chinese made crap

This has got to stop, and I think the recent recall of millions of products, mostly toys, is going to be the catalyst. I realize that American made isn't always perfect, but stuff made in China has major problems that are potentially putting our children's lives at risk. I've had it, but how is a parent supposed to shop for Christmas toys for an almost 3 year old without submitting to foreign-made items? Every major company has their factories in China, Thailand, Philippines, etc. I'm not sure how I'm going to find things my little girl will love without giving in to the Chinese glut of junk, but I'm going to give it the old college try. I also think that a serious writing/emailing campaign to our Congressional representatives is in order. I would love to start this, but need some help. Anyone with any ideas, don't hesitate to PM me.

[gollygee]

7. I've been trying to be very conscious of where stuff comes from

I haven't eliminated MIC stuff (that's very hard to do) but I found boots for my daughter that are made in Canada just the other day. But it is hard - you have to look around, and you have to be willing to pay more.

[kestrel91316]

8. I'm glad I've reached the point in life where I neither want nor need very

much "stuff". I need a new sofa, and I think the one I like at Thomasville is American-made. I need a new computer, and they ALL come from China I suspect, but there's no way around that problem. The new (to me) used car I will try to get a CA-made Toyota Corolla because US cars totally suck IMHO. The vast majority of my furniture is 19th century antiques and early 20th century vintage pieces.

Everything I buy I try to make a conscious effort to avoid China and buy US.

I watched the Nova program about global dimming last night and pretty much have myself convinced that our lack of rainfall here in the US is directly attributable to particulate pollution blowing across the Pacific from those Chinese factories. Like what we in the US and Europe did to the Sahel back in the 70s and 80s (and which has improved now that we spew fewer particulates).