Chinese recalls

Sploke

Sploke

resident boozehound
Staff member
Oct 20, 2005
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So Mattel toys issued another recall, it looks like another lead paint issue but this time from a different manufacturer than the last one. This problem is getting worse and worse and I'm really questioning how long this is going to last before we have a pretty broad boycott of chinese-made products. Between pet food, tires, toothpaste and toys, the lack of quality control over health hazards is pretty astounding. People's pets and kids, probably the two touchiest areas you can get when it comes to health and safety issues. Just wondering what people's opinions were and how long you think this can last before we start seeing drastic changes, either from the Chinese government, or from our own in the direction of boycotting products.
 
We need to start making our own stuff here in the good ol' USofA instead of having china make it and then ship it here, just because corporations are greedy and don't want to pay american workers and still keep products the same price. Eh, an issue I do not want to ramble on with any further. I think we all know how it is.
 
Well part of the problem is that it would be practically impossible to pay American workers what they want to be paid, and still keep things the same price. It's not just that the corporations don't want to. I agree that things like multi million dollar executive bonuses going away could help reduce costs, but labor by far is the biggest expense in manufacturing next to materials. If you quadruple the cost of labor (or possibly more) that goes into producing something, its hard to keep the price the same whether you want to or not.
 
Just out of curiousity I checked about a dozen of my two boys' toys and all but two were made in China. The only two that weren't were bought in France and one was made in France and the other Austria. None were the recalled ones, and all were bought at least several months ago, but it does make me wonder. However I've read that Mattel and Fisher-Price had never had to recall toys because of lead paint prior to this month. So I'm assumming that these companies do regular testings to ensure child safety, although I do give toys a good look before letting my kids play with them. And since these companies have stopped production in the suspected Chinese factories and have launched investigations, as well as recalled any toys in suspicion, I'd say they aren't taking things lightly. Also I've read where the Chinese government is cracking down on companies and individuals who are undermining the quality of Chinese products, so hopefully in time the weariness of buying Chinese products will not ruin the country all together.
 
Fisher-Price is a division of Mattel, so they are the same company. I'm glad they are taking a strong stance on recalling anything that might be suspect; they need to in order to maintain any reputability.
 
I heard today that the Factory Manager of one of the Chinese companies that manufactured some toys that were recalled supposedly 'hung' himself in his factory to avoid prosecution
 
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