A Plan to Stop the Poisonous Imports
Why is there so much confusion on what to do about all the dangerous imports coming in from China? To date there have been recalls on imports of toothpaste, pet food, toys, and who knows how many other products that have undetected problems. Does the inaction in Washington have anything to do with the fact that the Chinese Government has bought so many of our government bonds due to our trade imbalance and deficit spending that they practically hold a mortgage on America?
If these products were coming from domestic factories the FTC, the FDA, the Congress, the President and the Justice Department would be all over the companies producing these tainted products. Now, since the products are from another country, it seems everyone is walking around with the excuse that these dangerous items are beyond our in-factory inspection reach and there just aren’t enough port inspectors to inspect anything but a tiny percentage of these imports. But, the solution possibly could be very simple.
The large companies producing all of these products in China (and other countries) have representatives and inspectors in-country that are supposed to be checking on everything made there. But are they doing their job? Are they overlooking things for the sake of price? Are they worried about delivery schedules? Is money exchanging hands? We’ll never know.
The U.S. Government should take very firm steps in demanding that these giant importers make sure that the proper testing and inspection is done during the manufacturing of the product. It is the responsibility of the American manufacturer to see that these protections are in place. And if they don’t, and poor or dangerous products enter this country, the U.S. Government should take unprecedented steps. First the company must be fined, and not a slap on the wrist fine, but with an amount that will hurt, as in tens of millions of dollars. Secondly it should put a restrictive quota on imports the American company can bring in of that particular product category. If it happens a second time the fine should graduate higher, the third time higher, etc, and the quota be cut even further. The government must make the fines so punitive that the company comes to the realization that it would be cheaper to at least quadruple their inspection efforts and people.
It would also be cheaper for the companies than facing all kinds of lawsuits from injured or dying consumers.
If these products were coming from domestic factories the FTC, the FDA, the Congress, the President and the Justice Department would be all over the companies producing these tainted products. Now, since the products are from another country, it seems everyone is walking around with the excuse that these dangerous items are beyond our in-factory inspection reach and there just aren’t enough port inspectors to inspect anything but a tiny percentage of these imports. But, the solution possibly could be very simple.
The large companies producing all of these products in China (and other countries) have representatives and inspectors in-country that are supposed to be checking on everything made there. But are they doing their job? Are they overlooking things for the sake of price? Are they worried about delivery schedules? Is money exchanging hands? We’ll never know.
The U.S. Government should take very firm steps in demanding that these giant importers make sure that the proper testing and inspection is done during the manufacturing of the product. It is the responsibility of the American manufacturer to see that these protections are in place. And if they don’t, and poor or dangerous products enter this country, the U.S. Government should take unprecedented steps. First the company must be fined, and not a slap on the wrist fine, but with an amount that will hurt, as in tens of millions of dollars. Secondly it should put a restrictive quota on imports the American company can bring in of that particular product category. If it happens a second time the fine should graduate higher, the third time higher, etc, and the quota be cut even further. The government must make the fines so punitive that the company comes to the realization that it would be cheaper to at least quadruple their inspection efforts and people.
It would also be cheaper for the companies than facing all kinds of lawsuits from injured or dying consumers.
posted by Sam Schoolsky | 4:41 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home