I Must Be Stupid !

[Autocar]

I can't figure out why we as a country spend billions of dollars on China products. They seem to undermine, spy and just down right not trustful. Am I missing something here ? I had another half a page written but then it came to my mind that a lot of Americans would join the communist party if they would give them all the beer they could drink and all the football they could watch ! Just a old mans two cents.

[hacknchop]

Is this the kind of question I don't  answer like rhetorical ?

[sawguy21]

Because we as consumers won't pay a fair price for quality products. 

[dairyguy]

Because we as consumers won't pay a fair price for quality products.

Lots of us are guilty of this.  Really how much choice do we really have when the big multinationals buy everything from overseas to save pennies on each of hundreds of parts going into thousands of products that each get sold millions of times?

[brianJ]

Some things dont get a lot use so going cheap is the frugal choice.   Other times extra money for longevity is the frugal choice.

[21incher]

We have no choice many times. China is investing in pushing technology and manufacturing affordable solutions that are not available elsewhere.  Lately I am finding  Chinese quality to be superior to many US produced items I have bought.  The stamp made in China no longer indicates you will be buying an inferior product. Our leaders have pushed engineering and manufacturing offshore for years and now we are stuck living with the results. Yes slave labor is used. Our leaders blow that off as being ok so no one really  cares about it now. I will tell you customer service has become one of the reason I purchase items from China. They take it very seriously.  And don't forget that 10% to the big guy has been part of the problem for many years. The only way to fix this is start at the top and dump many of the executives that are pushing this country in the wrong direction guided by lobbyists and politicians. 

[randy d]

If things keep on going down the trail as they have we will have a lot more to worry about than what we  we buy from China It will be can we bay any thing with the talk of digital currency that has not gone well for crypto currency.

[230Dforme]

Good afternoon 

Autocar is correct I believe, that the greatest country in the world is going down hill, partly because of China’s effect on our economy, however the US
has been the most important and stable
country in the world for a century or more

What other country in the world enjoys
our freedoms and standard of living ?
I know there are other countries where
life is good, but the US is the US I believe 

China and Russia among others have chafed at this forever, China intends to be the dominant world power, and I believe they will do what it takes to accomplish their goals, including militarily at some point 

We are bogged down in a lot of nonsense in this country and losing the
generation that built it after WW2

Merle Haggard had it right all those years ago

Will leave it there for now