Kowabunga

There are serious problems when you have a Communist dictatorship using slave labor as a trading partner to manufacture goods. There has been a deluge of reports that products from China have poisoned pets, used lead paint in toys, defective tires, lethal chemicals in various foods and toothpaste, and so on.

From Reuters:

Mattel has only itself to blame for a huge toy recall that has stoked global alarm about Chinese-made goods, state media said on Thursday, charging that a slew of foreign safety scares had exposed a protectionist agenda.

Protectionist agenda?

"If it comes down to blame, then it all lies with the U.S. side," the paper said of the Mattel magnet recall, noting that the problem was a design defect. "The Chinese manufacturer only produced according to those specifications."

I seriously doubt that Mattel would provide manufacturing specifications that called for lead paint to be used.

There are serious ramifications when dealing with dictatorial regimes, and it isn't limited to having deadly products exported to the United States, although that has become a serious one.

The biggest problem is the amount of money that flows into China as a result of trade and how it is used: Specifically to bolster their military and totalitarian government.

Although free trade is a great thing when free countries and their people are involved. Free trade with communist regimes is not a good idea.

There are those that claim that free trade will help bolster the call for democracy. Maybe, but when the government is able to use the money that is earned from trade to enforce their will on the people, democracy hasn't got a chance.

If Mattel or any other U.S. company is to share in the blame for the deadly products they import, it is for their choice of trading partners and manufacturers, specifically dealing with communist dictatorships.

Tags:

China Mattel