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China's Latest Tainted Export: Toxic Drywall
gnomexxx
Member Posts: 2,920
China's Latest Tainted Export: Toxic Drywall
Litigation surges over thousands of boom-era homes in the South that may harbor noxious, corrosive gases from gypsum mined in China
By Esmé E. Deprez
China has been blamed for a raft of dangerous exports to the U.S.—lead-tainted toys, melamine-spiked pet food, and contaminated blood thinners. Now one of the biggest homebuilders in the U.S. says defective drywall from China is the culprit for fumes that have damaged 400 houses in Florida.
It won't be easy for homeowners to collect damages. Many builders responsible for purchasing and installing suspect drywall have gone out of business during the recession, while others didn't keep sufficiently detailed records to track the origin of the drywall they placed, notes Jean Harrison, a senior partner who specializes in construction law at Nashville-based Harrison Law Group.
Hundreds of residents in Florida, Louisiana, and Virginia have been complaining since last year that noxious gases—apparently from bad drywall—have been corroding wiring, air-conditioner coils, light fixtures, and even picture frames in their new homes. They've also said the fumes have caused headaches, nosebleeds, and sore throats.
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Comments
The whole 'Send all the manufacturing jobs to China' plan is working out swell!
Maybe we should have them make our food now too?
BTW... Theres something you need to know about Chinese dog-food. It's made of Taiwanese people!
Another reason we need to get out of Nafta and the Free trade deal.I knew years ago when this was signed it wouldnt pan out financially and now health wise it is taking a toll to.Alot of other countries that have cheap labor always skirt around the law and have no way of enforcing health codes or inspections due to mass corruption of their government agencies
I read this a lot and well i do understand it i highly doubt most of the people who say this would be wiling to pay more for products because of it, let alone the rest of the American populace.
"A stupid idea to you is the memory of a lifetime for me"
Thank You American people for being so apathetic as to let your politicians allow all this crap to made over in China. It's YOUR fault crap like this happens. Rise up and take a F'ing stand once and awhile instead of whining about everything. We have the greatest political system in the world if people would actaully do something instead of voting for idiots who promise hope and change with no plan. Don't blame this on the Chinese, or the politicians, or the idiot driving in front of you with a McCain or Obama sticker. Look in the mirror. It's your fault for letting things get out of hand.
"Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves." ~ Ronald Reagan
I read this a lot and well i do understand it i highly doubt most of the people who say this would be wiling to pay more for products because of it, let alone the rest of the American populace.
First point is that items other than electronics didnt get any cheaper once it started.At 42 years of age I have watched this closely,it was done mainly to increase stockholder profits.When you have jobs being outsourced since the early 90's yet stock keeps going up is all the proof that is needed
Second point is that not everyone will work in service/medical/financial/government jobs . Due to continued outsourcing of these jobs over the years more people have been displaced into lower paying jobs which means more people paying less tax and creates more burden on tax system which in the long term cuts our own throats.Its just now just being felt hard due to poor stock market and recession.
When there are less jobs to go around as well as not to mention immigration (both legal and illegal) there are naturally more people not working and creates drain on everyone else
Shall we riot and bring out our guns? What do you suggest here?Complaining just falls on deaf ears.The most that people can do is to stop buying made in China products...I dont buy China products..I go to the Mom and Pop shops.At least i know i can go back and bitch if they screwed up..
Some people rob you at gun point..Others will rob you at "Ball Point Pen"
Shall we riot and bring out our guns? What do you suggest here?Complaining just falls on deaf ears.The most that people can do is to stop buying made in China products...I dont buy China products..I go to the Mom and Pop shops.At least i know i can go back and bitch if they screwed up..
So where did you get your computer from them?
Another great example of Moore's Law. Give people access to that much space (developers and users alike) and they'll find uses for it that you can never imagine. "640K ought to be enough for anybody" - Bill Gates 1981
Shall we riot and bring out our guns? What do you suggest here?Complaining just falls on deaf ears.The most that people can do is to stop buying made in China products...I dont buy China products..I go to the Mom and Pop shops.At least i know i can go back and bitch if they screwed up..
So where did you get your computer from them?
It is simple to build your own PC.China is not the only one who make computers..
Some people rob you at gun point..Others will rob you at "Ball Point Pen"
Shall we riot and bring out our guns? What do you suggest here?Complaining just falls on deaf ears.The most that people can do is to stop buying made in China products...I dont buy China products..I go to the Mom and Pop shops.At least i know i can go back and bitch if they screwed up..
So where did you get your computer from them?
It is simple to build your own PC.China is not the only one who make computers..
He was probably referring to the parts used in said pc.
Shall we riot and bring out our guns? What do you suggest here?Complaining just falls on deaf ears.The most that people can do is to stop buying made in China products...I dont buy China products..I go to the Mom and Pop shops.At least i know i can go back and bitch if they screwed up..
So where did you get your computer from them?
It is simple to build your own PC.China is not the only one who make computers..
He was probably referring to the parts used in said pc.
I look for a writing that say Made in the USA first..Our people need there Jobs.So i try to buy all American..2nd.If I cant find what i want..It will then be a Japan Product.Allot better made then said China.If you want a cheap product buy china..China is not the only ones who makes parts for pc...
Some people rob you at gun point..Others will rob you at "Ball Point Pen"
Since China has hardly any real regulations at all, American corporations find it very financial smart to do business there for many reasons, and this has nothing to do with NAFTA, lol. This has been going on for decades since the late 70s, early 80s and exploded during the Reagan years.
1) Less regulations mean cheaper costs. China doesn't really have an "OSHA", so there aren't really too much worker's rights or benefits. So workers generally don't worry about quality control; they are worried about keeping their arm attached to their shoulder because if they lose that, back to the farm they go.
2) American companies aren't usually liable for too many things that happen on a drastic scale in China regarding product safety. If Walmart imports tons of Chinese toys or Home Depot ships tons of drywall that's tainted, Home Depot isn't responsible for the damage caused in the U.S. The people hurt have to sue the makers of the product, not the retailer. The minute they sue some of the distributors they just declare bankruptcy, reform a new company and do the same import business again.
3) Price. Plain and simple this is the reason. Cheap price, more profit, greed. A company, any company will do anything it can get away with legally or illegally if they don't think the government is watching. McCain was pushing hard for trade to Colombia (of all places, lol) during the election and wanted some trade bills pushed through. Thankfully that died or else that would have been another third world country stealing American manufacturing jobs.
Solution: The United States government simply has to make goods/services that are imported or manufactured overseas comparable to what is made here. Quite a few of other countries already do this with U.S. exports- Japan, Germany, etc. They put tariffs on the products to disuade their citizens from buying imported and encourage them to shop locally. Don't even think about buying American beef in Japan, lol. Half the time it won't go through inspections and the other half its taxed.
I'm not saying the U.S. should be a pariah, but there has to be some incentive to stop these companies from just packing everything up and shipping it out. If the costs were the same through tariffs, then those companies would just stay here. Why would they open a factory in Venezuela if the costs were identical?
"TO MICHAEL!"
Its going to be a problem until some things that are thought to protect the employee are removed or reduced. The price of labor from China is cheap, but the price of shipping is steep. If the minimum wage was removed, regulations on employers like employee healthcare and payroll taxes reduced, and the clamp unions hold reduced then it would increase manufacturing in the United States as well as increase employment and raise wages on skilled labor.
For my MBA, we had to do a case study for a local manufacturer here in MN looking to move operations to China. They make circuit board testing equipment. We determined that the average cost of doing business in China is going to go up 10-20% annually. As the Chinese workforce becomes more wealthy and more educated, their standards of living will rise, as well as their salaries.
Low cost offshoring is going to be a thing of the past in about 20 years. As nations like India and China become more developed, the cost of operating remotely in these countries will exceed the benefits.
Since Chinese quality of goods is so low, there will be renewed interest in Euro and US products. With the dollar lower than the Euro, this bodes well for the US.
Easy solution.
Widget Company A wants to make widgets in the U.S. The company looks at all the costs associated with making it (health benefits, overtime, safety upgrades, etc) then they find out the widget will cost them exactly $50 dollars per widget. They open the plant and start production.
After staying in business for a few years, they see their competitors selling widgets for $35. Then simply can't figure out how they do it so they investigate.
They find out that Widget Company B makes/imports all its widgets from China, where all the same costs and expenses are vastly cheaper. Even after figuring in shipping and taxes, its still far less to have it done this way so they do. They also don't have to pay out huge sums of money when workers get injured or killed through lawsuits. They settle in China for the equivalent of $5,000 U.S. dollars and the family is happy. So Company A either has to shut down or ship jobs out as well. Now both companies are selling widgets for $35 and the product is crappier.
All the U.S. government needs to do is slap a $10 or $15 dollar tariff on each widget and it stops right there. One company now has no incentive to go OVERSEAS to undercut prices and if they want to continue to sell in the U.S., there is no shortcut. Even if a company got pissed about the new tariff, shut down and moved to China they STILL would have to pay the same amount in tariffs that the U.S. company does to ship back here.
The company heads won't go live in China because.. who'd want to run a capitalistic enterprise under that, lol? That's a bluff they use but there is no way a huge American company would set up shop solely in China.
"TO MICHAEL!"
It's about surviving those 20 years probably, lol.
I do agree about the quality, but the current American business model (for parts and items) has always been this:
"This Chinese radio costs $10. This American one costs $30. I'll just buy the Chinese one and when it breaks, I'll buy a new one."
The same thought goes into suppliers, a lot of businesses that rely on parts simply buy tons of Chinese stock and when the part breaks, they ship you another one free or put in another one. That's a lot for the American economy to content with for 20 years.
"TO MICHAEL!"
It's about surviving those 20 years probably, lol.
I do agree about the quality, but the current American business model (for parts and items) has always been this:
"This Chinese radio costs $10. This American one costs $30. I'll just buy the Chinese one and when it breaks, I'll buy a new one."
The same thought goes into suppliers, a lot of businesses that rely on parts simply buy tons of Chinese stock and when the part breaks, they ship you another one free or put in another one. That's a lot for the American economy to content with for 20 years.
American sells there bottle water for a dollar..China sells there for 10 cents..Which water you going to drink?
Some people rob you at gun point..Others will rob you at "Ball Point Pen"
Probably the same drywall that was in various medications shipped from China.
Bottomline is this. We have only outselves to blame. Oursourcing everything. Everything that could be easily made safe has been made a hazard. Bite us in the ass hard enough and EVENTUALLY we'll swat the fly.
Saddly America is the country of "Lowest bidder" and as the saying goes. You get what you pay for.
Now if only 5000 more products would be considered dangerous we might start doing our own thing and stop outsourcing to countries that have little to no morals on the subject of materials used in manufactoring.
LOOK at the countries we import from. Christ on a cracker during a fourth of july snow storm.
I guess it depends on how thirsty I am
and where I am at.
"TO MICHAEL!"
I guess it depends on how thirsty I am
and where I am at.
Haha , I believe as we say in fps games.
GG
Get use to the idea of all manufactured goods coming from China. Cap and tax will be the largest destroyer of US manufacturing jobs since Bill Clinton's one two punch of Nafta ,and giving China most favored trading status in exchange for donations to his campaign fund.
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Well i have to agree here..But lets add a little more..Since the Industry is dropping at a alarming rate..In the Mean time the USA is letting people to live here from all over the world..Giving them jobs while the rest of those USA people who don't have jobs stand in the line of welfare.Do i see something very wrong..So let sum this up..
1) Industry leave to other country because.(A) Labor is cheap and (B.) Because very little restriction on safety..Example OSHA
2) United States open its door to the 3rd world country bringing in over Millions of people while in the mean time there are millions of people with out jobs here in the US..
3) As we seen.. Once the USA suffers the rest of the world suffers just by the chain reaction.
4) Mankind will never learn..The whole world is going to witness the Greatest Depression of all time...
Some people rob you at gun point..Others will rob you at "Ball Point Pen"
More outsourcing. Apple finds out.
Chinese engineer kills self over lost '4G' iPhone
"But popinjay... if they didn't make iPhones in China, they'd cost $2,000 each." I know that's someone's argument somewhere, so I figure I'd give you a head start.
And look... all done without Cap and Trades.. wheeeee! Please on the cap and trade.. give me a break. The U.S. has already done very well under Bush's watch. Apple and a host of other american companies were already in China, lol.
"TO MICHAEL!"
I read this a lot and well i do understand it i highly doubt most of the people who say this would be wiling to pay more for products because of it, let alone the rest of the American populace.
Why not? It's the way American's did all their shopping prior to this whole global economy b.s.
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Really? I voted for Bob Barr. Also did some volunteer work with others on his campaign here locally.
What did you do last election?
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