Oh noes! It’s from China!
As more crap is being recalled, one might wonder from the coverage if this is a ‘China problem’, in the sense that the American corporations sourcing product from China, and the US end-customers, are hapless victims of the Chinese system.
Is that really true, though? If it’s not possible for US firms to ensure the sale-worthiness of the product, then they shouldn’t be buying it. Otherwise, they should be ensuring that the items are sale-worthy. Sure, it’ll cost more money whatever they do, but that’s just a illustration of the general rule that you can get crappy product for less. If items that are up to snuff can be extracted from the Chinese producers, and it’s still cheaper than getting the stuff from elsewhere, then it makes sense to get the stuff from China; otherwise, obviously, it doesn’t.
The Chinese government probably have failed to act in their own best interests (at least in the medium and long term) by their own lights but I can’t believe that the firms buying Chinese product were making sensible efforts to get stuff up to the standard they required. It seems to me that they’d rather look the other way or hope that it’s not too bad when it happens. So, while consumers may well wish to exert more care when purchasing products that were ‘Made in China’ (although labelling isn’t always useful, as components can come from elsewhere but the whole be labelled ‘Made in USA/UK/etc’), they should also bear in mind that the familiar corporation name on the box describes the entity actually responsible for putting the item forward for sale, to you. They’re the ones that direct pressure can be exerted upon, they are the ones that can exert pressure on their suppliers and they are the ones with whom the consumer has the most direct financial relationship (well, after that between consumer and retailer).