hardboiled

Made In…

The silver lining to China’s falling exports on American consumerism

It seems as if almost everything these days has a little sticker that reads, "Made in China". However, according to BBC News, China's exports have experienced a drastic decline of 17% just this past month. The export industry accounts for nearly half of China's GDP, so this decrease is causing a wave of factory closures and staff layouts, perpetuating the poverty of the labor class.

While it is easy to point to the global financial meltdown as the basis of all this, doing so negates the basic economic principle of supply and demand. Most of the orders that China receives for its products come from the United States, but the demand for these orders has decreased of late. Recent events commenting on the contaminated infant formula and plastic items have brought the quality of Chinese products into question. Who wants to buy anything that may cause exposure to toxins?

It's not so much that the world's third largest economy is feeling the effects of the current world economic crisis, than that they just aren't making goods that meet international health standards. This unfortunately not only affects consumers but also Chinese laborers. According to the newspaper “China Daily”, over two million people in the Guangdong Province alone are unemployed and those who are lucky enough to have a job earn on average an equivalent of $295 a month.

There are several suggested remedies to this problem, such as implementing trade agreements and quality regulations for factories producing international products. Following this logic, if the standard of quality is raised for Chinese exports then the global market would be more accepting of those products and therefore place larger orders. However, China is a big place and there are just too many factories to adequately regulate. Implementing regulations also makes it more difficult for workers to become employed because the stricter sanctions on quality increase production costs, leaving less money available for wages. The government is also extremely lax about controlling firms. According to the New York Times, some Chinese companies routinely shortchange their employees on wages, withhold health benefits and expose their workers to dangerous machinery and harmful chemicals, like lead, cadmium and mercury.

With this knowledge, some may be inclined to boycott Chinese products. After all, who could, on an ethical level, enjoy something knowing that a child made it under excruciating conditions? However, contrary to what is commonly believed, factory jobs are far better than some of the other options available. For example, some of the unemployed in China scavenge for pieces of plastic in garbage dumps to sell to recyclers for the equivalent of five cents per pound. Factory work is an alternative to manual forms of labor like pulling rickshaws. At least the factory provides protection from the rain and the sun. And while U.S. policy makers mean well in favoring labor standards and trade agreements as an attempt to reduce oppressive working conditions abroad, a position in a factory or sweatshop is something of a dream to the unemployed during this economic downturn.

This puts well-informed American consumers into somewhat of a pickle. On the one hand, buying more Chinese products may counter the decline in Chinese exports and therefore allow more people to become employed there. And with the interconnectivity of the international markets, increased economic activity there will trickle down to increased economic activity here. However, doing so would also perpetuate the poor standards firms have on regulating product quality and worker conditions. One may wonder, “what to do?” because on some level, consumption is necessary for survival. Well, something not to do is to pay so much attention to China because in reality, not everything is made there.

For example, lots of things are made in Cambodia. Cambodia’s largest industry is its textile industry and it manufactures garments for the international market. Although it is a small South East Asian country, it has been able to attain successful trade agreements with the U.S. by developing a well-monitored labor system in exchange for additional quotas to the U.S. market. Vietnam and India have also recently stepped up to follow the model created by Cambodia. While there will be costs to this monitoring, firms will overall save money by reducing the costs of multiple audits and third-party inspections. However, a large part of this financing comes from the buyers. And the buyers are determined by sales in the U.S. market. For Cambodia and other Southeast Asian countries to continue this worker-friendly approach to factory jobs, it is crucial that their firms receive enough support from consumers abroad. The most direct way to do that is to buy their products.

And don’t worry – China’s big enough to take care of itself. According to BBC News, China’s government has implemented a stimulus package that aims to increase consumerism to counter the economic decline due to falls in exports. Although the value of the dollar has been declining in relation to a number of other currencies including the euro, RMB, and yen, it is still powerful in determining the welfare of international industries. As Asian Americans, we are members of a diaspora society. Purchasing items that can benefit particular countries is a way to connect with the global community. With this knowledge, we can become more discriminating buyers. When making your next purchase, don’t only pay attention to garment’s style, size and price, but also consider where it’s coming from. Doing so will not only make you look good but feel good too.