China's trade policy: "If you can make it, we can fake it."

Many moons ago a group of us were in London, and we saw large plasticized shopping bags emblazoned with a Union Jack. The motto at the bottom said: "Buy British". So mistakenly I bought one of the bags. In tiny print on the bottom it read: "Made in Portugal". Today it would say: "Made in China". For years since, we could buy their fake Vuitton luggage and Pucci-Gucci apparel. Oh yes, and endless pirated CDs and movies. However, the stakes have been raised by China's economic success. Today you can buy everthing from China. And while not technically fake, many of the goods are often shoddy; that is changing too. As I wrestle with my cheap-o Mao Brand garbage bags--Instructions: "If you can open in less than five minutes, you winner in Year of the Snake"--my $27 Chinese DVD player is working perfectly. The Great Walmart of China guarantees it will continue. In fact, the deluge of items that we import from China seem to swamp us. Hockey pads, bicycles, knock-off Nikes, clothing, and screwdrivers with built-in lights; there is no end to what they are exporting. And as one WalMart executive told an American supplier of moccasins, "You had better consider outsourcing your production, if you want to stay competitive." I suppose, to give him his patriotic due, he probably meant to India, which at least is a democracy that doesn't employ thousands of prisoners to do the work.

I don't wish to sound like an NDP convert on the road to Damascus, but Ottawa, we have a problem here. First, under NAFTA, we had companies moving either to America or Mexico to keep down costs. Today, China is the King Kong in the room. Heck, our Prime Minister has most of his shipping repairs done in China. Martin loves China. Presently they are gobbling up vast amounts of our commodities. Our Canadian Trade boys seem to be saying. "Send us your hockey pads and we'll send you our copper." All well and good, until the Chinese stop buying our copper because Chile can produce it cheaper. However by then a Canadian public has been seduced by the bargain rates of Chinese everyday products. So the garbage bags take an extra five minutes to open; they are still twice as cheap as any made in Canada. Even if you are a brand loyalist, who would never think twice of buying an electronic product not made in Japan, you will soon find the small print saying: "Sony, Made in China".

I do not know how to combat this race to the economic bottom. It is not only China, but India and the entire Third World that we have to watch out for. Industries and services businesses are fleeing North America for foreign cheap labour, goods and parts. A friend of mine who used to correspond with her company's branch in Tampa, now finds she is talking to some guy in Bangalorw, India. Who will eventually be left with a job here to even buy the cut-rate goods they offer us?

© Bud Talkinghorn--Just as China is about to flood the North American market with inexpensive cars, GM is filing for bankruptcy protection. Is that sheer coincidence?

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