On a recent blustery afternoon, I ventured to the neighborhood Hobby Lobby in search of some ceramic Santas to get in the holiday spirit. When I arrived, it seemed I had two options: the "cheap" Santas, or the "pricey" Santas. The "cheap" Santas varied in disfigurement: some were missing eyebrows, others fingers, one an entire eyeball.
These Santas, made in China, were selling for under $10. The "pricey" Santas had more vibrant paint colors, more rosy cheeks, and most importantly, all of their digits and facial features. These were made in the United States, but were $20 more expensive.
I had just experienced a dilemma that I am sure plagues people all over the world when it comes to Chinese products: Do we forgo quality in favor of a bargain? Or maybe the problem we face is more domestic. Maybe the American appetite for schlocky bric a brac is so insatiable that we are willing to plunk down our dollars any time we see something cheap, thus creating the demand.
As Americans, we have been hearing negative things about the Chinese for years. While no entity is all good or all bad, it seems collectively we exude a holier-than-thou attitude towards China. From their "one child per family" mantra, to their stringent Communist regime, to their slave-like working conditions, we are fed negativity on a daily basis through our media and leadership.
In recent headlines, China has been outright vilified, namely for its imports, that include toys with lead paint, beads with trace amounts of GHB--also referred to as the "date rape drug", fish with enough mercury to turn someone into a human thermometer, and toothpaste with an anti-freeze ingredient in it. So the logical question seems to be one of the chicken or the egg variety. Is it that we love our cheap products so much we forgive egregious offenses and neglect to demand quality, or are we so reliant on China we can't say no? Either way, the blame is as much ours as anyone’s.
We know that China does not seem to place a high value on quality of products. From rising boycotts on Chinese toys to leaked evidence that there are sweatshops that exhibit "brutal" working conditions, China's international public image leaves much to be desired. But maybe the root of this condition is not a failure in the market mechanism of supply and demand, but a failing on our part to apply some common sense to what we demand. I, for one, can not imagine the developed countries of Europe in line at their local megamart picking through Santa's with missing appendages.
The U.S. reaction to this? There have been many different voices rising: namely politicians, bloggers, reporters, and consumers giving their opinion on what should be done to alleviate this problem.
Some recommend a tariff structure that will basically level the playing field, causing imported goods to be about par with American products, thinking this will eventually weed China out, or force them to "step up their game", and make products of comparable quality. The blatant problem with this is that not everybody can pay the higher prices for goods.
In one of the recent Democratic Debates, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois made the best recommendation: that the U.S. adopt a policy similar to that of Japan:
"You know what Japan does with the Chinese when it comes to, for example, food importation? They send their own inspectors over to China and they set up their own safety system and they say, "If you don't abide by our rules, you can't send food into Japan. Now, the question is, why doesn't the United States impose these same rules and regulations as Japan has? This is the biggest market -- this is the biggest market in the world. China has to sell here.”
Later on, Obama says something that rings very true:
“China is a competitor, but they don't have to be an enemy as long as we understand that they are going to be negotiating aggressively for their advantage.”
Yes, we don’t want China sending us products that are safety hazards. But, the fact is, we depend too heavily on China to “quit being their friend”-70 to 80 percent of our toys, for example, come from China. Critics have said that implementing these inspections may drive up prices, but on products that pose a huge risk, that seems a better option than death.
Ultimately, the consumers are going to select their favorite options. At the local Hobby Lobby, there are more $30 Santas left to collect dust on the shelf than $10 deformed Santas. It seems the market has chosen, and China isn’t to blame.
