Thursday, November 18, 2004

China Watch: The Last Of Its Kind

Unfair Trade
The very last U.S. television manufacturer is struggling to somehow stay alive. Five Rivers Electronic Innovations of Greenville, Tennessee, manufactures "high-end" large screen televisions for Phillips, Samsung, and RCA. They have just filed for reorganization under Chapter 11.

Cheap imports from mainland China (where the average factory worker earns 35 cents per hour) are being blamed for the final demise of this once prosperous American industry.


When asked what kind of trade is going on with China, the Director of the Port Of Longbeach, which is the major portal for the China trade, said the following:

  • We ship tree trunks to China, they ship furniture to the U.S.
  • We ship hides to China, they ship shoes to the U.S.
  • We ship micro processors to China, they ship computers to the U.S.
  • We ship cotton to China, they ship clothes to the U.S.

Can we see a pattern here?

According to P.B.S, the trade deficit with authoritarian China is 150 billion dollars per year and growing. And let us not forget that people in China never get a chance to vote in anything like a free or fair election. For some reason, this is the government that we have granted permanent "Most Favored Nation" trade status.

To see more about how we are allowing Authoritarian China to win this unfair competition, please click here.