The same thing is happening in the U.S. at the moment and we’re not doing anything to stop this Government from taking our freedom away from us…

and about Chinese workers.. walmart takes special advantage of them… check out the documentary about wal-mart the high cost of low price… we have just the same rotten apples in the U.S. as there are in other countries!

1) pay more people to work longer on the car,
2) buy higher quality materials to go into it, or
3) make more money on the car and reinvest to expand, etc.

So the answer to “What about the car? Is it any good?” is “It had better be, unless their engineers and workers are substandard. If they can’t make a good car with that cost advantage, it just shows how much better our engineers are.

I’ve been hearing your argument for the 25+ years I’ve worked at GM, and I’m tired of people trying to separate the “currency vs. quality” debate into two separate issues; they are intertwined.

For all the turmoil of the last years, at least now we have a clean balance sheet (at considerable pain to many), and as soon as we can shake the government involvement (next year?), we should be in good shape.

By the way, what is the long-term consequence of our trade deficit over the last quarter century? Japan and China owning our debt and owning us. I hope we’ve enjoyed our Japanese TV’s (which killed the US TV’s through dumping in the ’70′s) and cars, as well as our Chinese “you name it,” because when they’re worn out, our country’s interest payments on the debt they own will have just started.

Hello consumer products, goodbye American independence.

They are not the only onces to engage in currency manipulation. The U.S. dollar has dropped more than 40% in the last few years. Imagine if you were Saudi Arabia and were selling oil at $50/barrel a few years ago. Due to the U.S. letting their currency plummet, their oil is worth less. That falling dollar explains why oil is in the $70-80 trading range. $50/barrel is what the Saudis got a few years ago, and today’s $75/barrel is basically the same price due to the currency fluctuation. That also explains why gold/wheat/copper and every other commodity which is based on the U.S. dollar has jumped so much in price in the last few years.

Bill Clinton allowed China to get Most Favored Trading nation status because “it will promote democracy and more freedoms for the Chinese people”. Bill Clinton has been out of office for a long time. Does anybody see any democracy in China? Or anything related to Western style freedoms? Just in case you are geopolitically ignorant, China is a Communist dictatorship, their is no freedom of the press, freedom of religion, unions are banned, environmental regulations are a joke (they may be in effect but not enforced), corruption is endemic, the Chinese don’t respect patents, there is not honest courts (good luck if you are a western company trying to get justice in a Chinese court of law). Greedy businesses love China as they failings of China and its endless supply of cheap labor make it an ideal place to do business. We have overseen the greatest transfer of wealth from east to west in history because of this globalization nonsense.

George Bush signed in Mexico as part of the free trade agreement. The existing free trade agreement was reasonably fair, both countries have labor legislation, pollution laws, and a reasonably honest court system. Mexico is a corrupt third world country who should never have been allowed to join any free trade agreement with first world countries. Last year Mexico made more vehicles that Canada or the U.S. The average salary in the Mexican autoplants is $1-3/hr. Good luck competing with that.

Greedy companies in the west have exported all the jobs to corrupt third world countries. Its a good thing people don’t riot in the U.S. Globalization means a race to the bottom. How about a trade agreement that respects workers rights and pollution laws. How about we only allow manufactured products from countries with true democracries. I hope Obama introduces legislation promoting the interests of the average citizen rather than greed multinationals.

What about the car? Is it any good?
If so, bring on the competition!!!

What we need is more of this stuff, whoever produces it.

xx

I have no problem with Chinese workers they are hard working and industrious and are doing the same as all other workers in the world by trying to earn a living and make the lives of their families better. No one can fault them for that.

The problem is the Chinese government and Chinese corporations. They simply have no scruples and have little regard for human life, the environment or anything else. Even after banning lead in toys for children we continue to receive shipments of lead filled toys. Yesterday target announced yet another recall of toys. This time valentines day teddy bears, of all things, have been found with very high levels of lead in them. Some Chinese companies have complied with the ban of lead, but instead of replacing the lead in jewelry with something safe they chose instead to use cadmium which is even more toxic than lead.

If a Chinese car is imported into the US and there is a problem with the brakes who will ensure they recall them and fix them? The Chinese government and corporations simply cannot be trusted to act in a fair manner in any regard.

Of course corporations around the world will generally take any advantage they can to make a buck and cannot be trusted anymore than a Chinese corporation, but fortunately most advanced nations in the world have functioning regulatory and judicial systems which keeps them in check. Neither of those exist in China.