Made in China- do we care?

[shootingstar]

I don't mean to be flip, but the reality is that most people want the very best for the very least cost. That's human nature. That's why Walmart is the biggest retailer on the planet. That's why cotton tees can be had for $4 and a 6 quart crock pot costs $19.99 (or less!) at Target. That's why TVs are no longer manufactured in the US. Consumers simply won't pay the price.

So, to answer the OPs original question "Do we care?"... I'd have to say that many people care, but most don't change their buying habits when push comes to shove.

Thx for the info. about the types of garments etc. and quality expectations, etc. which i didn't include in this excerpt.

Perhaps when pushed against a wall, one area people might care and follow through with their actions, is a consumer product that is not produced/manufactured properly and endangers personal health and safety.

Useful for us to have this discussion to really see how much as changed in terms of economic trade patterns, manufacturing origins, and changes in consumer attitudes. Or slow-moving changes to consumer attitudes.

Small points:
*deeiamond- didn't know how Singapore economically was affected by the shadow of China

*value of life in ther areas of occupational & health safety seems to be less in certain countries. Abit shocking to have learned from one of the engineers who worked in a 5-yr. $3 billion construction project that over 10-15 construction workers died over that time period in Tawain. Not in 1 sweep, but over that time period. The project was just completed early last year.

Very different in occupational health and safety enforcement compared to many industries in Canada and U.S. What is shocking is some firms from developed countries, ie. Germany may not much better. The above engineering Tawain project was managed/steered by the same firm that I worked for a local engineering project. After all, it was the same firm that hired labourers for our engineering project in suburb of Vancouver,....direct from Serbia, Poland, Thailand and Panama. Why? Because they were paid less than Canadians..because alot of our Canadian tradespeople/labourers that we hired, were unionized and hence, higher wages, etc. Meanwhile we had alot of Canadians unemployed. Yes, things made alot of sense...

* Keep in mind before the loss of garment industry in Canada and U.S., there were some sweatshops. Some of my relatives worked in them. But at least the money earned was going back to people who are Canadian.