Buying from China, does it matter where your good come from?

[laspariahs]

Hey, I'd like to take the moment to ask a question about where you buy your goods, and your political affiliation, I know it's cool to be independent, so lets just go with who you vote for more, liberals or conservatives, or which way you lean however little you may lean that way.

I'd really appreciate it, it's just something I'm curious about, I think it's going to go one way, but I'd actually love to be proven wrong.

You care, means you try to buy from USA, or certian countries. You don't care means you just buy whatever irrespective of where it's from, you sort of care means you think about it, but it isn't a big factor in your purchases.

[The Black Knight]

I'll bite, eventhough I've sworn off political threads. However, this seems harmless enough.

Conservative and I fall into the category of "I care to sort of care". I know it's not listed but for the most part I'd prefer USA made or Japanese made stuff. My favorite guitars are Japanese and USA made.

As far as China made, I'm not a huge fan. In the construction arena, I've seen a lot of products that come from China are poorly made. Chain Link fencing for instance, their brackets suck, are improperly honed/drilled and alot of things won't line up. Bolts and nuts are either soft or strip easy. Or improper threads and the nuts won't match.

Similarly in Guitars. USA and Japanese made guitars usually feature some of the finest craftsmanship out there. Ibanez is a company that I absolutely love. They make some excellent guitars. And even their Indonesian and Korean made guitars feature some sublime workmanship.

Contrast to Fender guitars. They have all makes in their line up, some USA, some Japan, some Mexico and some China. The USA, MIJ and MIM guitars are excellent, with the MIM bringing up the rear. However, their MIC guitars just don't feature the workmanship. Either the frets have burrs on them, metals in the bridges are flimsy, they use inferior volume/tone pots, etc.

And FWIW, in the Guitar realm, China is the #1 exporter of Counterfeit guitars. This is extremely prevalent with Ibanez knock offs. The counterfeiters even use the Ibanez logo, yet produce tacky knock offs that just don't measure up. They are getting better though and to an untrained eye, it's hard to spot a fake.

[Airreed]

I'm all about saving a dollar, so China does get most of my money.
The ones I find odd are the made in Pakistan (i have some North Face stuff from there) or made in Paraguay...

My Ford F-150 is more Mexican than American and the Tundra is more American than Japanese....

[laspariahs]

First I would like to thank people who have responded yet, I'll try to keep it as civil as possible from my side.




My Ford F-150 is more Mexican than American and the Tundra is more American than Japanese....


Just so you know, even when you buy a Mexican ford, roughly 85% of the economic benefit stays with in the united states, when you buy a foreign product, even when it's made in the US the maximum is roughly 45% of the economic benefit being retained by Americans. I don't know where toyota lies on that spectrum, I do know that Chevy is 70%.

[brennahm]

What economic benefit do you refer to? I'd much rather buy a truck that was made in the US but 90% of the "benefit" went overseas.

Why? I'd rather my neighbor has a job and some foreign exec gets a bonus than vice versa.

[dirkterrell]

As long as competition is fair, we should make choices on which producer gives the best value. With respect to China (and many other nations), the competition is not fair. Producers in the USA have to obey all sorts of environmental and labor laws. That costs, quite a bit in some instances. Chinese producers are not forced to obey similar requirements and can therefore produce the same things more cheaply. To level the playing field, they would have to follow the same laws, or we have to apply tariffs to their products. Our politicians don't have the guts to deal with the issue and manufacturing continues to move overseas. It's going to end up being very costly for us in the long run.

Dirk

[TransNone13]

Liberal or conservative that's it? I'd like to vote with the I care option, but depending on your definition of conservative I'll abstain. Do you mean constitutionally conservative (ie libertarian) or the current aberration that is conservative. The perception and limitation imposed by two parties is a glaring metonymy of what's wrong with our perception of government and its inability to use more common sense than abiding by the allegiances these parties and politicians have.

There are so many reasons to buy US goods, or at least avoid buying goods from China and the like. By purchasing goods made in China, whether you think so or not, you are endorsing their policies and empowering their economy. The more money we give potential adversaries or those with questionable human rights etc, you are allowing them to line the pockets of their officials and increasing their potential military spending. If a political fallout were to occur and military actions were taken against ourselves or our allies, they'll be repaying us with goods made in China; except this time possibly they'll be missiles stamped with "Made in China" and not just cheap toys. (Not to mention all the dangerous goods coming out of China due to poor regulations.) Even if it were not an outright war, current conflicts are so convoluted with foreign players, who knows who has a stake in it?

[Canuck]

The problem with your polling questions is that it's too polarizing. Ideologues are what keep any progress from occurring in this country and your questions fit right into that frame. Left, Right, Libertarian, Progressive, it doesn't matter. The social economic fact remains, that this country and many other western countries (i.e. Britain, Japan) outsourced so much that they are now reliant on the 3rd and 2nd world nations for many of the basic goods that are desired within western cultures. If there isn't a manufacturing base left within your economy, then it eventually suffers. The US and UK are perfect examples if this. Now, in these two countries, their main export is money and the circulation of Bonds, etc. The US has gone from a producer nation to a consumer one, and that can not be sustainable with the 1st world lifestyle that most expect.

[asp_125]

The label "made in Japan" used to be snickered at. Now most of us ride one of the big 4 without batting an eye. Kia and Hyundai used to be laughable excuses for a car, not so much anymore. Even now, most of the circuitry components in your cell phone are from China. My Macbook Pro came from China. Politics aside it comes down to your preception of value.

[Ricky]

I don't always care, but I am far more conscious of it these days. When it comes to something heavy duty (car jack, air compressor, jack stands) when you look at the chinese version compares to the US made ones, we just make better quality stuff, and we also pay out the ass for it quite often. Now, there are chinese companies that are a bit different, and don't fall into line with the rest of the Chinese crap. Like Foxconn. But otherwise, it's very hit or miss... I bought this shitty chinese pair of diagonal cutters from a dollar store, and tried to use them to cut a piece of wire, and the wire actually did more damage to the cutters, lol.

[asp_125]

+1, some of that Harbor Freight stuff I'd just as soon stay away from and get a set of Snap On or Craftsman. Although, I hear that even Craftsman's non-professional stuff is made overseas now.

[Ricky]

Yup, Craftsman has gone from american made, guaranteed forever, quality stuff, to chinese made, higher profitability, crap. Not all of it though.

[TurboGizzmo]

what is made in America from raw material to finished product anymore???

[Sarge]

Me! :lol:







But my wife isn't...

[asp_125]

what is made in America from raw material to finished product anymore???

Hydroelectricity, crops, moonshine?

[Snowman]

It seems to me to be kind of an irrelevant question. Most everything we buy has parts that are not domestic in origin, even if the manufacture is. The computer you are typing on has parts from all over the globe. The American cars you drive are manufactured from many different plants all over the world and maybe brought together into one final assembly here. Even local food is more or less dependant on packaging and transportation that are not American. And don’t get me started on the fuel sources needed to run all of it.

We live in a global economy and have for some time. It is impossible to only buy American or any other country for that matter, and the multi-national corporations want and have paid to have it this way.

It has raised the living standard tremendously in those countries that formally were living in a pre-industrial age economy and created a new middle class across the planet. If you ask, most of those people would say it was an improvement in their lives. They can afford better housing, food, medial care and even have cash left over to buy luxury items just like Americans have since the 1800’s.

For corporations this means more customers for the goods produced and less dependence on rich countries like America to generate their profits.

Yes, everyone one of these countries will have to go through the same pains the industrialized world did when it went through this change. America was known for its sweat shops, child labor, pollution, worker rights violations and bad quality at one time.

The only thing that seems to be American only in origin is money. Most currency around the world today is based on the American dollar somehow with a couple notable exceptions, the Euro and Yen. It seems to be one of our last growth industries of the past 20 years or so and I believe the last one we will dominate globally.

I don’t see America being a economic leader for much longer, but more of a global player with industry and manufacturing moving to other places and more intellectual pursuits like science, engineering, programming being the fields of growth here.

[laspariahs]

What economic benefit do you refer to? I'd much rather buy a truck that was made in the US but 90% of the "benefit" went overseas.

Why? I'd rather my neighbor has a job and some foreign exec gets a bonus than vice versa.

More economic benefit for Americans =more neighbors getting a job, and more money per person.

[CoRR]

More economic benefit for Americans =more neighbors getting a job, and more money per person=higher cost of living=higher taxes= Government with more power
I finished it for ya :)

As for the poll...
Place of origin does not matter to me. Quality of product is what I look for.

[laspariahs]

I finished it for ya :)

As for the poll...
Place of origin does not matter to me. Quality of product is what I look for.

Considering we can't pay for our government now, that's not true, perhaps it would just mean paying off our debts.