Ducking Responsibility

"Made in China" is a pretty common label in many U.S. stores. In fact, the Miami Herald recently reported that about 40 percent of imported U.S. consumer goods are China wholesale products.

Low prices have made China wholesale products popular in the United States, but consumers still assume those products meet most, if not all, of the same safety standards as American-made products. If the products are on American store shelves, they have been determined to be safe.

Not necessarily. What's more, a recent investigation by the Miami Herald concluded that although more than half the goods recalled by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission were made in China (69 percent in 2007 and 53 percent in 2008),Chinese manufacturers seldom suffer any penalty for exporting defective, even dangerous, products.

The list of faulty products was long. There were steam cleaners that burned their users, high chairs whose seat backs failed, a loosely knotted soccer net that entrapped and strangled a child, and a toy box with a poorly fitted lid that fell on a toddler's neck and killed him. In recent weeks, it also has been discovered that Chinese drywall used in many U.S. homes during the building boom in 2004 and 2005 is defective and possibly toxic.

It's sometimes argued that Americans are too eager to seek legal solutions to various problems, but who wouldn't pursue litigation against the Chinese manufacturers of these products regardless of where they were made? The defective products had tragic and/or costly consequences, and someone ought to pay.

Unfortunately, it probably won't be the Chinese manufacturers. Experts in the field say Americans are seldom successful if they sue Chinese suppliers in Chinese courts. It's sometimes difficult to even determine the specific manufacturer of a product simply stamped "made in China," and even if a company is identified, it often can avoid a lawsuit in a U.S. court by claiming it doesn't have a substantial business presence in the state in which it is being sued. Even if a U.S. court finds a Chinese manufacturer liable, it's difficult to get the company to pay a judgment unless it has American assets.

The bottom line is that because Chinese manufacturers face almost no meaningful penalties for their defective products, they have almost no incentive to try to change their ways.

It's unlikely the "Made in China" label will disappear or even become less common on U.S. store shelves anytime soon, but that doesn't mean American consumers can't show some discretion in the purchases they make. Until Chinese manufacturers are willing to take more responsibility for their products and show more concern for the safety of people who are buying those products, it seems to make sense for U.S. shoppers pay attention to the "Made in China" labels and perhaps make another choice whenever they can.

By J-W Editorials.