Still buying Chinese products?

[Plumber1]

Wondering now what our thoughts are on products from China and will you change your buying habits. I for one ( and Jerry ) have always tried to buy American products. We all know that China does not care for there own people so what makes you think they care about you or your safety.

A couple of examples

As a plumber we use cast iron piping, and it is required to marked with the foundry name, date, and country of origin. I saw pictures from a foundry in China that had old women painting with a stencil this info on the pipe. The major problem was that they were using the same date stamp for several weeks, and the name of foundry being painted onto the pipe was from a foundry that was closed.

A couple of years ago while camping on the Rubicon Trail my buddy set up a horseshoe pit. During our game one of the shoes went a bit long and hit a large rock ( remember we are on the Rubicon ) and the shoe broke in half really a horseshoe broke. When we looked at the box it said made in China. So if they can't even make a horseshoe what makes you think they can make STRONG bumpers, winches, roll bars, cages, etc.

Remember just a few years ago when the Olympics were held in China, they had to close plants and foundry's down for weeks to get the pollution to clear before the World showed up to compete. Again they don't care for their own people. China has been know to dump hazardous waste into some products that they ship to the US to get rid of it. China has purchased garment companies in Italy so they can sell them as made in Italy not China. I think they can what may come down the road they people may sop buying there products.

So I guess I need to ask the country of origin of products before I purchase them, I know that the box or products are required to be marked " Made in China " but I want to know before I buy it not after I receive it.

I hope Trump ( lets not get political here ) or whomever is our next president thinks about why companies go offshore and plan to get them back to the good ol USA.

As they once said BUY AMERICAN the job you save may be your own.

Rant off

So let's all buy American Made products.

 

[Chris]

You can be damn well certain I'll be paying way more attention to what I buy and where it's made after this, that's a fact

 

[qslim]

I wrote a long paper for a masters class a few years back that centered around the rampant intellectual property theft that happens over there. All the research I did made me lose a lot of respect for those folks and how it seems to be a culturally accepted idea that stealing someone else's stuff is OK. Fake Apple Stores, fake BMWs, fake fighter jets...

 

[Rich1961]

I've tried to buy American made as much as possible. Not an easy thing to do anymore. But I will now avoid buying anything made in China if possible. As you said, we need to BUY AMERICAN.

 

[Tray Burge]

Not knowingly will I buy Chinese anymore. I'll pony up the difference and buy American only if I can.
I'll be honest, I try to buy American usually, but have fallen prey to the lower prices of Chinesium products before,
not anymore! FUCK EM!
When I bought my bumper and some other products lately I intentionally seeked out American made.

 

[Phil Younger]

Horseshoe broke? Must of been cast (cheaper to make) rather than old school forged --What cowboy would ever allow such a shoe to be placed on his horse

There have been so many issues over the years i can't remember them all but one dandy was poison in infant formula.

I just can't stop thinking about how the Sharks (especially Kevin) keep pushing investor seekers to get stuff made cheaper in China or anywhere else cheap. As a general public we have been dumbed down to that all things are equal and price is king over service or quality. The Walmart Way (or of late -online lowest price way).

It is so refreshing when I need something from Miller (welding) and call them up and they send me 1200 pages of service manuals for my 1968 IEAD 250 after they have already answered every question.

The Chinese even tried to copy the center pivot that I sell but then desperately tried to get USA dealers to sell them the tower boxes and control panels that would actually work.

 

[TJ2]

This is very tough times. We try our best to look for USA made product first. I hope the online buying does have the filter so I don't have to guess.

 

[pagrey]

I will be paying more attention. Chinese workers are now as we speak making N95 masks and shipping them to the United States. Your friends and family are protected, your doctors and nurses are protected by the supplies we are receiving from China. Your first thought is to turn your back on these people? We are stronger through international connections. The best way to change the life of somebody in China is to have a factory like Apple and Intel do and make demands on how the workers are treated. Our ties to China are going to be stronger then they ever have and that is a good thing, we all need friends when things go south, even the ones we don't exactly see eye to eye with.

 

[mrblaine]

I will be paying more attention. Chinese workers are now as we speak making N95 masks and shipping them to the United States. Your friends and family are protected, your doctors and nurses are protected by the supplies we are receiving from China. Your first thought is to turn your back on these people? We are stronger through international connections. The best way to change the life of somebody in China is to have a factory like Apple and Intel do and make demands on how the workers are treated. Our ties to China are going to be stronger then they ever have and that is a good thing, we all need friends when things go south, even the ones we don't exactly see eye to eye with.

Hypocrisy is one of my bigger pet peeves. My question is simple and basic. All of this info about not buying from China, the shaming, the outrage, the social commentary etc. were loaded to the internet via some digital device. Check for me if you would and tell me where it was made because I tend to view anti China commentary loaded to the internet via a made in China device with the same view I have of those who drive their cars to a highway protest. You want to protest a highway, ride your horse or bicycle to it, don't drive.

 

[Mr. Bills]

I still remember my first college economics professor, an unassuming fellow whose claim to fame (if he ever wanted any) was that he was selected by Franklin Roosevelt and later hired by Harry Truman to head the effort to design and implement a new post-WWII Japanese economy. No small feat with wildly successful results for Japan.

He believed the "Buy American" jingoism of his day was misguided at best and actually foolish as advocated by some under the mantle of patriotism. His belief was that all things being equal, in a free market it is beneficial for a nation's economy to acquire its goods and services from the cheapest source and it is immaterial from an economic standpoint whether that source is a foreign country. The problem, as has become clear through the lens of recent events, is that all things are not equal and we do not operate in a free market. Poor Leon (that was his name) was clueless about power politics.

I am no fan of the Communist Chinese, but let us not forget that it is we Americans who created the Japanese and Chinese economies with our insatiable desire for cheap goods.

 

[cliffish]

I still remember my first college economics professor, an unassuming fellow whose claim to fame (if he ever wanted any) was that he was selected by Franklin Roosevelt and later hired by Harry Truman to head the effort to design and implement a new post-WWII Japanese economy. No small feat with wildly successful results for Japan.

He believed the "Buy American" jingoism of his day was misguided at best and actually foolish as advocated by some under the mantle of patriotism. His belief was that all things being equal, in a free market it is beneficial for a nation's economy to acquire its goods and services from the cheapest source and it is immaterial from an economic standpoint whether that source is a foreign country. The problem, as has become clear through the lens of recent events, is that all things are not equal and we do not operate in a free market. Poor Leon (that was his name) was clueless about power politics.

I am no fan of the Communist Chinese, but let us not forget that it is we Americans who created the Japanese and Chinese economies with our insatiable desire for cheap goods.

I love how you put a mask on Mr. Bill in your avatar...I sure he is now really saying ooooohhhhhhh Noooooooooo!

 

[Phil Younger]

I agree Mr Bills — and don't forget that when you buy that bumper --the steel should have come from Minnesota or the UP of Mich with a mining company paying all sorts of taxes for everything starting with the local property tax for local govt., a taconite mill, then a rail transport company to the lake for transport to reload on ships to head to Gary IN where the taconite is turned to steel (also involving limestone producers, coal/coke producers,etc.), then trucked out to rolling mills, and then to wholesalers, then to the bumper fabricator. All along the way companies have paid real estate taxes, income taxes, environmental taxes, unemployment taxes, etc. Employees have been paid and paid taxes. Everyone one down the line has bought goods and services and provided jobs for others and income to government.

When we shortcut that value stream and bring in foreign goods we screw ourselves to some degree. And I say to those who claim the government should be doing this and that for free while also saying we want impossibly low CO2 levels, free health care, and who knows what next --you better realize the money will not be there for the wish list if we buy our products from overseas. (I'm not saying I want more gov't- i actually want less govt and less govt debt.)

 

[alittleoff]

I do what little I can to buy USA made products and marijuana is one of them.

Jajaja, I just noticed that it is Post #13.
Time for another toke and some munchies.

 

[xxdabroxx]

Hypocrisy is one of my bigger pet peeves. My question is simple and basic. All of this info about not buying from China, the shaming, the outrage, the social commentary etc. were loaded to the internet via some digital device. Check for me if you would and tell me where it was made because I tend to view anti China commentary loaded to the internet via a made in China device with the same view I have of those who drive their cars to a highway protest. You want to protest a highway, ride your horse or bicycle to it, don't drive.

My samsung smartphone was made in Korea.

I try and buy as much from the US as possible, but at this point I think it is nearly impossible to completely avoid buying some things from China. Some things I couldn't afford if I could only buy a US product.

Take a milling machine or drill press for example as I'm currently in the market for a hole making solution. I'll likely end up with a WEN drill press as a mill that could also swing a large forstner bit is a ways out of my price range. Unless you have room and money to buy a vintage industrial size machine there isn't much out there that is US made. Now if you shop around you might be able to find equipment made in Taiwan instead of China but does it really make a difference?

 

[pagrey]

Take a milling machine or drill press for example as I'm currently in the market for a hole making solution. I'll likely end up with a WEN drill press as a mill that could also swing a large forstner bit is a ways out of my price range.

I've got an old 3/4 horse craftsman drill press that will easily swing my largest forstner, which is 2 1/8", in maple or cherry without any complaints. They appear on CL for under $200 all the time around here. I don't think you need a milling machine for pretty much anything wood but I don't know what scale you are talking about. There's one in my area that's been listed for two months at $125 as I write this.

 

[TJ2]

Made in the USA.
Let's face it. We lost the grip 20 years ago.
We need to get it back. But it's too complicated.
I still buy made in China. There is no other choice often times than not.

 

[xxdabroxx]

I've got an old 3/4 horse craftsman drill press that will easily swing my largest forstner, which is 2 1/8", in maple or cherry without any complaints. They appear on CL for under $200 all the time around here. I don't think you need a milling machine for pretty much anything wood but I don't know what scale you are talking about. There's one in my area that's been listed for two months at $125 as I write this.

I was more looking for one machine to do all my drilling/ milling needs and was looking at mini mills like the Grizzly G0704 or Precision Mathews PM25mv but I don't think they would take care of my larger drilling needs in the shop. That and as much as I'd like one a mill is out of my price range right now.

I'd like something that is nice and tight rather than an old worn out tool but I have been keeping an eye out on CL.

 

[Thunderhead]

I do what little I can to buy USA made products and marijuana is one of them.

Who the hell still buys Mex-weed ? Sticks and seeds. I almost lost an eye when i was 14 because of those damn seeds

 

[ejay]

Hypocrisy is one of my bigger pet peeves. My question is simple and basic. All of this info about not buying from China, the shaming, the outrage, the social commentary etc. were loaded to the internet via some digital device. Check for me if you would and tell me where it was made because I tend to view anti China commentary loaded to the internet via a made in China device with the same view I have of those who drive their cars to a highway protest. You want to protest a highway, ride your horse or bicycle to it, don't drive.

 

[OHFIVETJ]

Problem ladies & gentleman is that NOTHING is made is the U.S.A anymore ................