Don't get me wrong: We need international trade. It's good for business, it's good for foreign relations, and it's good for development in all sectors of the economy. Our current economic crisis is not the fault of international trade but of the fact that much of it is dangerously imbalanced. For every dollar Americans spend on Chinese goods, only $0.25 is returned. It doesn't take a math wiz to figure out that eventually we're going to be pretty short on cash. These kinds of trading partners cause the bulk of our massive trade deficit.
The United States built its early success on industrial excellence, but we've let that advantage slip. After the end of World War II, our manufacturing sector was the only one not in shambles. Other countries made it a national movement to lift themselves out of poverty by making things at home and purchasing their own goods. With our prosperous economy and strong manufacturing sector, we took America's prosperity for granted while these other nations plundered it. Things are now so bad that we now need our own national movement -- to make things at home and only buy from countries who buy from us.
"Made in the U.S.A." products still exist, and even more companies would have incentive to move operations back if consumers began to reward these companies with their purchases. A consumer movement aimed at buying American goods, or goods from balanced trade partners, could save our economy. But to do this, we need more accurate information about where things actually come from. We need a detailed country-of-origin label that tells us where products come from, in what percentages, and whether the U.S. has imbalanced trade ratios with those producing countries.
If you own an iPhone, it likely has the words "Made in China" somewhere on the product. But the iPhone is only put together in China. The majority of its components are made elsewhere: in Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Germany, and even the U.S.A. This kind of misinformation is why we need more accurate labeling.
We need to support each other with targeted purchasing choices. We don't need to only buy American (though it helps); we need to buy for America. That means preferring goods from countries we have balanced trade relationships with. Instead of Chinese goods (until they buy more from us), we should buy from other low-cost countries. The price point will likely be similar, but the effect will be hugely more beneficial to our job market because of the trade ratio we have with these countries. As mentioned earlier, with every purchase we make of Chinese goods, 75-percent more money flows out of the country than comes back from them. But of every dollar spent on Taiwanese goods, only 27 percent is not returned, and that figure is 22 percent for Korean goods. The difference is astounding, and this multiplier effect has a concrete impact on our economy and our domestic jobs.
If we don't have a lot of money to spend, we can still buy the things we need from the cheaper, import-laden superstores. But the things we want we should buy locally or domestically, because our money makes a real difference in the world.
The American Revolution was also about economic independence from a foreign power. Remember the Boston Tea Party? If everyone were to focus their attention on buying American products and avoiding imports from countries who shun our exports, we could make a real dent in this country's economic problems. And that's why I am calling on Congress to pass a resolution to make July 1 to 7 "Buy American Week." Americans need to know that the power to bring our country back is firmly in their hands.
To learn more information about Buying America Back, please visit buyingamericaback.org.
The author points out that the Chinese return .25 cents of every dollar spent by U.S. govt./consumers. This is a complete lack of understanding. Exports pay for imports and vice versa. If an American buys a Chinese good with a one dollar Federal Reserve note, that is a promise to repay. The currency is debt. It's worthless until it is used as a claim check to claim goods out of the economy.
The Chinese are sending us real wealth in exchange for some exports but it is mostly debt. The U.S. manufacturers so little that China wants. What does China do with the surplus dollars? It tends to recycle those dollars (which are a form of debt) into another kind of debt in U.S. Treasuries.
So: For many years Americans have been getting the real goods (wealth) while the Chinese have been getting mostly I.O.U.'s. And I am supposed to think that the U.S. is getting the raw end of the deal? Ha!
The whole buy American thing is nonsense because of the law of comparative advantage to trade and shrinking the division of labor.
it would them be impossible to be an informed consumer if you have no idea where your products are coming from. Many places already use the obfuscating label of "distributed by" rather than "Made in"
of course in addition to the potentially poisonous, defective or counterfeit goods that is very likely with imported goods, you have little or no recourse to pursue these foreign interests legally if you are harmed by one of their products - as people who bought defective chinese tires, and those whose pets were poisoned found out
We need stronger and stricter country of origin labeling, not less
People really think it was labor cost that forced Solyndra, Evergreen Solar, SpectraWatt, Solar Millenium and Solon in these highly automated manufacturing plants to shut down!
Why?
Why does no one remember their history class and realize the planet always had cheap labor call them serfs, slaves, coolies ...etc...
The industrial revolution had to wait for cheap reliable energy! Watch this graph from the EIA and learn:
http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=4390
and the cost not even mentioned in this article!
Over 2/3's of our mercury pollution now blows in from China!
http://discovermagazine.com/2011/apr/18-made-in-china-our-toxic-imported-air-pollution
People were so upset a couple of weeks ago because tuna had a measurable increase in radiation!
The increased mercury in tuna will kill you long before the radiation!
The loss of National Security!
An example: Our soldiers camouflage uniforms use the pattern to blend into the background these same uniforms require a dye that have special IR characteristics that is no longer manufactured in the U.S. we get most of these dyes from China none of these dyes are manufactured in the Western Hemisphere! Most other dyes subjected to IR light tend to glow in the dark.
Say for what ever reason in a time of crisis China no longer wants to sell these special dyes to the U.S.; do we send our Soldiers and Marines to fight in glow in the dark uniforms?
The only practical solution is to require 10% of everything sold in the U.S. be made, mined, drilled, or grown in the U.S. Because going in times of crisis from 10% to 100% of are needs is hard but possible. Going from 0% is nearly impossible because the brain trust and infrastructure is no longer there.
Any bought politician that fights this brand them as a national security hazard!
See before these Trade agreements the money was locked in here in the U.S. because what's the point in building a new factory in a fast developing nation if because of tariffs your products are noncompetitive?
Remember it's capita gains Warren Buffet worries about and it's income taxes his Dentist and Secretary worry about!
Dubbed a "secondary market." regulators say ....some have put fake, stolen or adulterated products into the nation's drug supply.
During the 1980s and 1990s, the law was used to prosecute not only the military-industrial complex, but the medical-industrial complex, as well. Pharmaceutical companies, private hospital chains and nursing homes have paid out billions of dollars in penalties.
Courts have repeatedly narrowed the scope of False Claims Act suits starting with year 2000.
Don't we just LOVE deregulation.....
"Never trust any product without checking it first! You get what you inspect from Asia not what you expect!" he said.
Wise words.
A true solution has to somehow evolve from recognizing the true origins of the problem: the establishment of the dollar as global reserve currency and the subsequent de-linking of the dollar from gold. This has allowed for the undue credit expansion (and related public and private debt) that suckers us into financing our consumption by borrowing rather than by producing.
Global trade imbalances are the natural and unavoidable result of a global monetary system that no longer has gold as a natural balancing mechanism. Even if we work to somehow fix those imbalances, we are still in for a tough ride. If we don't fix them, we are in for an even tougher ride, because they will ultimately fix themselves in a catastrophic way.
http://www.firstprinciplesjournal.com/articles.aspx?article=1792
http://www.manufacturingnews.com/news/10/0518/chinadrugs.html
You Don't Know Where Your Drugs Come From And Neither Does The FDA; U.S.Imports 90 Percent Of Its Antibiotics (And Vitamin A) From China
"...The United States needs two tons of heparin per month. Seventy percent of that is sourced from China, says the study. Tainted Chinese heparin (made from pig intestines and used as a blood thinner) supplied to Baxter International caused the death of 81 Americans in early 2008..."
Last Flatware Factory In U.S. To Close | OurFuture.org
"There's only one flatware factory left in the US, a former Oneida plant bought by Sherrill Manufacturing. In spite of the fact that there's a brisk market in flatware in the US, and that the facility is highly productive and state-of-the-art, the plant will be closed and 80 workers laid off.
Earlier this month, the news came out that the Obama administration was going to close the office that reports on jobs lost due to globalization, so that it will be much, much harder to check any claims about whether trade was a net cost or benefit to the American worker. While writing about it, I was watching Modern Marvels: Chrome, and they profiled this plant, the last domestic flatware maker, telling viewers..."
"Made in the World" labels
http://www.manufacturingnews.com/news/11/0930/madeintheworld.html
European Technocrats May Soon Deprive Americans Of Knowing Where Everything They Buy Is Made
"The World Trade Organization, the OECD, the International Chamber of Commerce and the European Commission are moving aggressively to eliminate "Country of Origin" labeling, claiming that it does not reflect the current structure of global trade. The Europe-based organizations instead want to adopt a "Made in the World" logo for all products on the grounds that global supply chains have rendered country of origin labeling inaccurate and obsolete.
The intent of the proposal is to reduce public pressure on politicians for protectionist trade policies..."
More at:
http://www.wto.org/english/res_e/statis_e/miwi_e/miwi_e.htm
WTO | Made in the World
Employee = Consumer
Population of China: 1.5 billion
Population of U.S. 300 million
People should thing about this every time they visit Wal-Mart in search of "cheap" merchandise.
Not only Wal-Mart, but every other business selling imported goods.