purchasing items
- Thread starter Agamenon
- Start date
I am not trying to oust China but I am trying to buy more locally made food and products. I want to be contributing to our economy as much as possible.
Technically speaking, the Republic of China is actually the official name for Taiwan so you'd be "punishing" the wrong country. It's the People's Republic of China that you're really after.
Technicalities aside, a boycott is completely useless. Do you have any idea how many products and raw materials are currently sourced from China? Even goods that are "Made in Canada" only have to be finished in here and at least 51 percent of the manufacturing costs be incurred here. That's assuming that all companies are following the law. Many are likely not or have found loopholes.
Technicalities aside, a boycott is completely useless. Do you have any idea how many products and raw materials are currently sourced from China? Even goods that are "Made in Canada" only have to be finished in here and at least 51 percent of the manufacturing costs be incurred here. That's assuming that all companies are following the law. Many are likely not or have found loopholes.
The chinese workers worked in Milano and made the all expensive stuff there. Because they made on Italian land, the companies (dolce gabbana, giorgio armani....etc) could use the "Made in Italy" label. Technically those are chinese made luxurious stuffs, just playing games with the laws and your wallet . The time of the Chinese New Year the workers went back to China to celebrate. When the New Year is finished, they went back to Milano and brought THE GIFT to Lombardy. The rest is just one version of the history of COVID!
Products which are made in China are a lot cheaper than the same product being made elsewhere. Now ask people if they are willing to buy these products made elsewhere and having to spend 3X-5X more on their monthly expenses? We all the answer to that question will be a NO for the very high majority if not all of people.
There are a lot of products that are either Chinese made or made in other countries that have Chinese parts in them, these people that think this is possible should all stop using every single piece of technology, electronics, houseware, textile they own and go buy the equivalent in Canadian made with a higher price and in many cases inferior quality.
You can assume that "those really willing to make a point will pay twice for something not made in China", but in reality the very high majority of Canadian's (90%) can not afford to purchase these non Chinese made items and the very high majority of those will not pay more for an inferior product, since that would mean there expenses will increase on a monthly basis by 3-5X more for purchasing the same items yet their income is the same as before. Again textile, technology, electronics, houseware is a significant portion of consumer spending.
The 10% that can afford to purchase these not made in China items are smart individuals and they will not pay higher for the same quality product where they can find it cheaper. I know that businesses will see even larger revenue losses if they were providing not made in China products to their customers and charging their customer 3X-5X more for their products.
That is very true . Thousands of Chinese workers are working in Italy making products . You put a made in Italy label on them and the prices sky rocket . Also true that many workers went back to China for celebrations and brought back the virus with them .
Many products maybe be assembled in Canada but the parts are made over seas . Not really made in Canada.
I try to support my local businesses but to a certain point but not if there is a very big price gap . Not going to be ripped off because it's local .
These are simple facts that many either don't understand or choose not to believe. The cost of producing products in Canada is far too expensive relative to other countries. Even if people worked for free we would still not be competitive with China because our skilled labor force is simply not large enough.
The other issue many seem to forget is with the food supply especially fresh meat. The label might say Product of Canada, but it doesn't tell you where every ingredient especially animal feed or fertilizer come from. Not sure if anyone recalls, but there was a huge recall of pet food around 2007-08 that came from a Canadian company called Menu Foods that was the largest in North America. They made pet food for a wide variety of brands expensive and cheap. I wouldn't be surprised if they were (and still) labelled as Product of Canada.
The ensuing investigation revealed that the ingredients making up the pet food was contaminated with melamine, which is typically used to make laminate flooring, dry erase boards, etc. You clearly don't want to ingest it let alone give it to your pets. One guess as to which country those ingredients came from. It would not surprise me in the least if ingredients are still coming from there.
I remember that scandal vividly because I had a fairly young golden retriever that suddenly died of apparent organ failure around that time. I have no way of knowing if contaminated pet food killed him, but it's very, very likely.
The economic reality is that most products be they clothing, textiles, electronics or food and their ingredients are made overseas and just finished in Canada.
It's literally impossible. 99.9% of items sold in North America are made in China.
I've been trying for many many years not to buy Chinese products, literally impossible. Too many people in North America buy based soley on price.
Most items "built" in North America are made with Chinese material and parts.
Maybe in a couple of generations but not in ours.
I've been trying for many many years not to buy Chinese products, literally impossible. Too many people in North America buy based soley on price.
Most items "built" in North America are made with Chinese material and parts.
Maybe in a couple of generations but not in ours.
Not only are we all addicted to the crack cocaine of low priced goods from China, but also the high priced goods. All iPad, IPhones, and Apple computers are made in China. All other computers and tablets are made there as well along with high end Nikon and Canon cameras. If you were to boycott all items made in China you would have to walk around naked, shoe less, making calls from pay phones because you can not drive a car without Chinese components and electronics in it.
There is an American commercial on TV selling rubber floor mats for cars, they claim to be made in America. The truth is that you can not buy rubber floor mats for cars made in the USA. Floor mats claiming to be made in America is made in Mexico under free trade. The America they refer to is North America as North America, Central America and South America can be considered to be in the Americas.
Do not fall for Trumps hate China because they will harm us, Trump has tried to hate Canada to gain points as well. Remember the 25% tariffs on Canadian steel and 10% on Aluminum? What did the new free trade deal cost us? So are you willing to pay double or triple the price for goods made in Canada and the USA or pay quadruple or five times the price for goods made in the EU?
There is an American commercial on TV selling rubber floor mats for cars, they claim to be made in America. The truth is that you can not buy rubber floor mats for cars made in the USA. Floor mats claiming to be made in America is made in Mexico under free trade. The America they refer to is North America as North America, Central America and South America can be considered to be in the Americas.
Do not fall for Trumps hate China because they will harm us, Trump has tried to hate Canada to gain points as well. Remember the 25% tariffs on Canadian steel and 10% on Aluminum? What did the new free trade deal cost us? So are you willing to pay double or triple the price for goods made in Canada and the USA or pay quadruple or five times the price for goods made in the EU?
It's a combination many don't understand and choose not to believe these simple facts, it's interesting that all of this has been happening in the last 40 years, yet these people have buried their head in the sand for 40+ years but they think magically this will change overnight and they can somehow stop it by avoiding a small not made in China product.
Best way I can describe is economically China is playing chess while the US is playing checkers, and the most interesting part to me is China is using the same globalization tactics the US was using a century ago.
But unlike the USA that mostly concentrated on globalizing their military industrial complex and building their military China is expanding all their business sectors which is a lot more sustainable in the long run.
Store shelves should have a red maple leaf on the shelf price sticker to identify Canadian made or assembled products. I’d pay a small premium (up to around 10%) to support my fellow Canadians. When I worked at a hardware store part time the only Canadian made products I recall were paint and steel wool.
Rampant consumerism, people refusing to live within their means is a part of this problem as well. Nobody does without anymore. And we drive ourselves into debt to keep up with others.
This Pandemic may (and certainly has for some of us) force us to re-examine our shopping obsessed culture and get back in touch with actual needs over wants. Discipline.
This Pandemic may (and certainly has for some of us) force us to re-examine our shopping obsessed culture and get back in touch with actual needs over wants. Discipline.
