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I never said drop all laws nor do I believe we should. I only wrote that it is unreasonable to force our employment laws on foreign companies that trade with the US. I do not agree with exploitation of inexpensive labor. But for us to for example force a 40 hour work week on Chinese workes is a gross intervention.
Our standard of living will never match the Chinese unless they take over our country. Their consumption of energy and their lack of concern for the environment WILL impact them significantly.
We have every right to control what comes into our country. We should not allow goods into our country that are judged unsafe (like food or toys made with lead paint).
France doesn't resist American goods because our workers work more. France is rapidly losing its economic battle because of its rich social benefits and low productivity.
As for trade wars, I have believed for a long time that the US is gutless dealing with gross trade imbalances. Americans are addicted to cheap goods and the politicians are too.
02-14-2012, 03:41 PM
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USA companies should be held accountable for their products made overseas.
They should instead try to invest more in the actual USA with their companies first before also investing elsewhere.
They should not invest somewhere else just because the workers will work for lower wages than other places such as the USA.
Other countries should not be blamed because plenty of countries in the world deserve plenty of prosperity, and good things like that.
Also, Globalization is still great in plenty of ways.
Globalization can be expressed in more positive ways rather than more negative ways, which includes where USA companies create their products.
Companies should definitely be held accountable. They should know what's going on throughout their supply chain. When they don't, that's how we end up with tainted pet food, lead in children's toys, etc. When I buy something in the store, I want to know exactly what I'm getting for my money--and the company selling the product should be able to tell me exactly what they're selling.
Additionally, as long as companies can have people in China making products like 'slaves', there is no way American workers will ever be able to compete with that. In a NYT article, an Apple rep said that they once had to make a sudden change to their product, so the manufacturing company in China, a company called Foxconn, woke up hundreds of workers in the middle of the night in their factory dorm rooms, gave them tea and a biscuit, and put them on the assembly lines for at least 30 hours. Is it right to treat human beings in this way? Would Americans be willing to live in dorms (instead of in houses or apts with their families) and be willing to be awakened on a moment's notice and then have to work 30+ hours and with no meals? Because what this Apple rep was implying is that because Americans are not willing to live and work like this, that is why they are doing their manufacturing in China.
Fortunately, Apple and a few other companies are now looking more closely at their supply chains. Perhaps such transparency will lead to more people in other parts of the world being treated like human beings, more safer products, and greater opportunities for American workers to compete on a more even playing field.
Uh... there aren't any smart phones built in the US. That's the point, to bring manufacturing jobs back.
You're not going to bring jobs back to the US by penalizing American owned companies. One of two things would happen, they would lose market share to cheaper products being produced by foreign owned companies and eventually go out of business or simply abandon the US market to foreign owned companies.
The only way this can be addressed is if it were mandated ALL imports into the US were produced in countries that abide by US enviromental and labor laws.
No comments on my post about countervailing tariffs? No warnings about Trade Wars? No worries about higher prices?
FWIW - We are in a Trade War and we are LOSING.
We meed to use tariffs and quality controls like no toxics in imported people and animal food and an UL stamp on electrical devices to allow domestic manufacture of reliable and safe products. We have been giving away the store to make our financiers and importers rich at our expense. If we had the jobs here we could afford the increased costs. If we made our own energy we would send less money to our enemies in the Mid East.
Additionally, as long as companies can have people in China making products like 'slaves', there is no way American workers will ever be able to compete with that. In a NYT article, an Apple rep said that they once had to make a sudden change to their product, so the manufacturing company in China, a company called Foxconn, woke up hundreds of workers in the middle of the night in their factory dorm rooms, gave them tea and a biscuit, and put them on the assembly lines for at least 30 hours. Is it right to treat human beings in this way? Would Americans be willing to live in dorms (instead of in houses or apts with their families) and be willing to be awakened on a moment's notice and then have to work 30+ hours and with no meals? Because what this Apple rep was implying is that because Americans are not willing to live and work like this, that is why they are doing their manufacturing in China.
Fortunately, Apple and a few other companies are now looking more closely at their supply chains. Perhaps such transparency will lead to more people in other parts of the world being treated like human beings, more safer products, and greater opportunities for American workers to compete on a more even playing field.
That FoxConn was willing to do almost anything is indicative of a company that REALLY wants to keep and grow their business with Apple.
Although there are many pieces to this puzzle, what American company is hungry enough to consider doing this? What American workers are willing to do this? None. Even less likely though would be a French company. If a French worker had to work more than 35 hours a week they would set the cars on fire in Paris.
I don't think workers should be forced to work in unsafe conditions. Children under a certain age should not be part of the labor force. Working hours should be set to ensure safety and support family life. But these standards are not just a US thing. I think it is arrogant to think that Americans can or should define working environments around the world.
American industry could try harder to compete. Foxconn's workers aren't college educated. I bet most of that work is relatively ordinary skills that someone with a high school education can do. The overemphasis on college (driving people to get useless degrees at great expense) and a lack of "hunger" in American workers makes industry's job harder.
Apple could change much of this if they wanted to. They could satisfy themselves with less profit (vastly more than ExxonMobil or Walmart). But it won't happen until American consumers get over their addiction to Apple's products.
The only way this can be addressed is if it were mandated ALL imports into the US were produced in countries that abide by US enviromental and labor laws.
And I think that is key. I live in a country (US) where we have put a lot of effort into creating laws that insure that we are protected from hazardous working conditions and unsafe products. Yet, companies are still allowed to import unsafe products from places like China. Products coming into the US should come under the same scrutiny. One could argue that consumers should research and inform themselves of what they're purchasing but when you consider every thing we buy from apples to drywall to auto parts, who would have time to constantly being doing that research and working their 40-50 hour a week job? Just keeping up on 'tainted pet food' is very time consuming. This is what an FDA should be for. Of course, I could just look for a 'Made in the USA' label, but I don't see many of those these days.
If business wasn't over-taxed and over-regulated in the United States - no business would move operations overseas. Logistics are expensive when you have to ship your finished product and the market is far from the place of production. Businesses are being driven out of the country by the bureaucratic meddling of government and the exorbitant taxes that prevent business from growing efficiently at home. Simplify the tax code, free businesses from red tape, give tax incentives to current overseas companies - i.e. create a business friendly environment - and watch them come back in droves.
I disagree with Harrier. Businwesses are leaving this country because production in foreign sweatshops is more profitable. Remove the profits with tariffs and the incentive is gone. Prices will rise but more employed people will be able to pay them. Everyone gains but the international financial manipulators.
If business wasn't over-taxed and over-regulated in the United States - no business would move operations overseas. Logistics are expensive when you have to ship your finished product and the market is far from the place of production. Businesses are being driven out of the country by the bureaucratic meddling of government and the exorbitant taxes that prevent business from growing efficiently at home. Simplify the tax code, free businesses from red tape, give tax incentives to current overseas companies - i.e. create a business friendly environment - and watch them come back in droves.
That is not really true. Most of the "problem" for these companies are simply the wages. When someone in the US expects maybe $12.00 per hour, more or a bit less depending on how skilled the assembly work is- plus benefits- but yet someone in China can do it for maybe $3.00 per hour (or less) per person with no benefits, it doesn't matter if there were no taxes or regulations here- those companies would go to China for the cheaper labor.
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