Get ready for more of this as US companies send orders to China

Detroit stamping company goes under, converts to Chapter 7:
"Solar Stamping asked the court to convert the case to Chapter 7 earlier this month because GM was finalizing its plans to obtain parts from another supplier and because its financing was set to expire."

See story below for GM's plans to build in China.

There may be an upside to the Chinese toy debacle

Parents shy away from Chinese toys:

"Instead of a small mountain of toys under the Christmas tree, the Donais family of Windsor is opting for fewer presents, quality time with family and gifts that spur the imagination of their three-year-old daughter. And the shift is largely due to concerns over the safety of Chinese-made toys."

Any time personal interaction is substituted for consumerism, it's a good thing. Let's keep it up.

Chinese-made miter saws are recalled : Science Technology

Chinese-made miter saws are recalled : Science Technology: "The WMH Tool Group Inc. of Elgin, Ill., initiated the recall when it was determined the Chinese-made saws' handle switch can fail, causing the saw to smoke, spark and trip circuit breakers, thereby disabling the safety brake. The saw also can keep operating unless the unit is unplugged, posing a laceration hazard to consumers."

Laceration hazard? I know a (former) guitarist who cut off all four fingers of his left hand with a properly functioning saw. What happens with one that doesn't turn off?

Just when cars were starting to get pretty good...

GM plans Chinese-made hybrid cars -- china.org.cn: "

General Motors Corp will build hybrid cars in China from 2008 in time for the Beijing Olympics next August, Automotive News said, citing Martin Murray, the car maker's manager of Asia-Pacific hybrid engineering.

The cars will have GM's four-cylinder Ecotec engine, which is made in China, the report said. The auto maker hasn't said which models it will make in the country and when they will go on sale, Auto News added. Murray wouldn't specify how many vehicles will be built, it said.

Toyota Motor Corp's Prius, the only hybrid assembled in China, went into production in December 2005. Hybrids use gasoline or diesel engines and electric motors to power the wheels, Auto News said.

Michigan Local & Small Business News – Economics & Finance News Articles - MLive.com

Michigan Local & Small Business News – Economics & Finance News Articles - MLive.com: "'I never checked toys to see where they were from,' the 30-year-old Bay City mother said. 'I just assumed they were all safe because they were in the stores for sale."

A New Online Store for Toys Made in America

I'm putting together my own online store for folks to purchase goods not made in China. I am starting with Toys made in America, and you can see it here:

http://astore.amazon.com/harrystoyshop-20

It will change in the comings days and weeks as new goods are added, so please stop by often.

Eventually, I plan to offer goods of all types from the US.

China blocks USS Kitty Hawk carrier from Hong Kong - Yahoo! News

China blocks USS Kitty Hawk carrier from Hong Kong - Yahoo! News:
"HONG KONG (Reuters) - China has refused permission for a U.S. aircraft carrier and accompanying vessels to visit Hong Kong for a long-planned Thanksgiving holiday visit, the U.S. State Department said on Wednesday.

"The USS Kitty Hawk group and its crew of 8,000 airmen and sailors had been expected in Hong Kong on Wednesday, but will now spend the holiday on the South China Sea.

"Hundred of relatives of crew members of the Kitty Hawk had flown to Hong Kong to celebrate Thanksgiving with them."

Unbelieveable - They don't Value your Child (Their Customer)

China Christmas toy orders up despite quality fears | Reuters: "BEIJING (Reuters) - Orders for Chinese toys are on the rise in the run-up to Christmas despite a wave of product recalls that have shaken confidence in the safety of Chinese-made goods, the country's product safety chief said on Wednesday."

More China Toy Recalls, and American Corruption?

Safety agency issues new batch of toy recalls | U.S. | Reuters:
"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More recalls of lead-tainted toys made in China were announced on Wednesday by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, including 380,000 toy cars sold at Dollar General stores.

Other warnings included smaller recalls of Dizzy Ducks music boxes, Winnie-the-Pooh spinning tops, 'Big Red' wagons, Dragster and Funny Car toys, and Duck Family collectible wind-up toys, all because of paint with unsafe levels of lead.

Millions of similar toy recalls, most involving Chinese-made products, have alarmed American consumers in recent months. Lead is toxic and can pose serious health risks to children, including brain damage. The new batch of recalls totaled about 403,000 toys. No injuries were reported, the safety commission said.

U.S. lawmakers have proposed legislation that would virtually ban lead in toys and give the product safety agency more funding for testing, recalls and enforcement. They have also criticized the safety agency's acting chairman, Nancy Nord, for accepting industry-funded trips.

The toy cars recalled Wednesday were sold at Dollar General retail stores from April through October this year for about $1 per pack of two or four cars. Consumers should return the toy cars to a Dollar General store for a refund. "

The China Toy Debacle Now Moves into US State Courts

California sues 20 companies over toys with lead | Reuters:
"The lawsuit, which names U.S. toy companies including Mattel Inc, and retailers, including Toys 'R' Us Inc and Wal-Mart Stores Inc, says the companies knowingly exposed children and their parents to lead and did not provide sufficient warning about its risks.

'Despite the lengthening global supply chain, every company that does business in this state must follow the law and protect consumers from lead and other toxic materials,' California Attorney General Jerry Brown said in a statement.

The lawsuit follows a series of recalls this year that have led to millions of toys being taken off store shelves. Many of the recalled toys were made in China."

China's e-waste nightmare worsening - Yahoo! News

China's e-waste nightmare worsening - Yahoo! News:
"GUIYU, China - The air smells acrid from the squat gas burners that sit outside homes, melting wires to recover copper and cooking computer motherboards to release gold. Migrant workers in filthy clothes smash picture tubes by hand to recover glass and electronic parts, releasing as much as 6.5 pounds of lead dust."

Panel: China's Spying Poses Threat to U.S. Tech Secrets - washingtonpost.com

Panel: China's Spying Poses Threat to U.S. Tech Secrets - washingtonpost.com:
"And the Defense Department may be inadvertently outsourcing the manufacturing of key weapons and military equipment to factories in China."

"...As weaponry gets more and more sophisticated . . . I think we'll find ourselves more vulnerable for parts that are being manufactured by an adversary. It's really something the Pentagon needs to look at seriously," said commission member Bill Reinsch, who is also president of the National Foreign Trade Council, which promotes free trade on behalf of businesses.

"...The report stated that China's military advances "have surprised U.S. defense and intelligence officials, and raised questions about the quality of our assessments of China's military capabilities."

And where does one think they got those technological advances? I can't be the only one not wearing a dunce cap...

CPSC Feed Added to Site

Hiya! Please note that to the right and down a bit is a feed from the Consumer Product Safety Commission concerning all toy-related recalls.

Be sure and also have a look at the CPSC Non-Toy recall list, also listed to the right. It's huge!

Rufies for Kids!

Aqua Dots Recalled For 'Date Rape' Drug Danger

WASHINGTON (CBS News) ― China-made toys seized in Hong Kong were being tested Thursday after scientists in Australia found that similar toys contained a chemical that converts into a powerful 'date rape' drug when ingested, officials said.

At least five children in the United States and Australia have been hospitalized after swallowing the toy beads, which are used in arts and crafts projects. They can be arranged into designs and fused when sprayed with water.

"They look like brightly colored little candies and they're manufactured in China, where, as you know, they're cutting corners in these factories, using toxic chemicals," Julie Vallese, spokeswoman for the Consumer Product Safety Commission told CBS' "The Early Show".

Australian scientists say a chemical coating on the beads, when ingested, metabolizes into the so-called date-rape drug gamma hydroxy butyrate. When eaten, the compound - made from common and easily available ingredients - can induce unconsciousness, seizures, drowsiness, coma and death.

My God, someone actually gets it!

How clean tech will bring manufacturing jobs back to U.S. | Tech news blog - CNET News.com:

"Shipping materials from China also "blows the whole point about zero carbon dioxide," he added. "You're on the wrong side of the energy curve."

State governments are also offering substantial incentives--free rent in industrial parks, tax holidays, loans, grants--to woo these companies. "States do not want to be left out of the next industrial revolution," Surace said.

Some of the most aggressive states include New York, California, and New Mexico.

The heartening part of all of this is that Surace isn't alone. Bruce Jamerson, CEO of Mascoma, which wants to make cellulosic ethanol, has said the same thing. Mascoma is building plants in Michigan, New York, and Tennessee because that's where the wood chips and vegetable matter are. Several analysts have said shipping is one of the big barriers for Chinese solar-panel makers.

Granted, it's not like these companies are staying in the States because the CEO woke up one day to a Bob Seger song playing on the radio and started getting misty-eyed over the disappearance of the industrial heartland. They are being encouraged to stay stateside in part because of subsidies.

But other factors--like shipping costs, the low prices of their products, and the proximity to local markets--could conspire to get the manufacturing arm of the country moving again."