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Wildcat

Wildcat

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We always hear about boycotting sweatshops that make clothing and things, and some Hollywood actress who gets lambasted because their clothing line uses overseas labor at 2 cents an hour.

Same goes for the Bike industry. This is a 2004 article but really highlights why we should put the tariffs back on foreign goods to increase production and jobs here.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dy ... ge=printer
 
The article is a great description of what has happened in numerous areas of US manufacturing. Foriegn manufacturers get a huge advantage when they don't have to care about paying fair wages or environmental safeguards. And when the government covers the health costs that the US employer and employee would otherwise cover they get another huge advantage.
 
The last line of the article says it all

"People complain that a Schwinn is not what it was. True," said Greg Blake, an engineer at Pacific.

"But," he said, "it doesn't cost what it did, either."


We have become a "throw away society" . People won't spend $50 to fix a broken $99 bike from Wal Mart. It will get tossed and buy another bike.
Do you think these Walmart bikes will be sought after when they are 50 or 80 years old?
 
When I go to the scrap yard, I see some bikes that are not even 10 years old. 90% of the bikes I see there are department store bikes; they're cheap and don't last.

What's really sad is that I can go into Walmart and purchase a new bike and still sell it for the same amount I bought it for. Look at the BFKs for example... They sold as low as $39 and they're worth $200. You don't see that happen with a bike shop bike!

axelrod said:
We have become a "throw away society" . People won't spend $50 to fix a broken $99 bike from Wal Mart. It will get tossed and buy another bike.?
Click to expand...
True. I'm glad the CL has flooded the bike market!!! :mrgreen:
 
Wildcat said:
We always hear about boycotting sweatshops that make clothing and things, and some Hollywood actress who gets lambasted because their clothing line uses overseas labor at 2 cents an hour.

Same goes for the Bike industry. This is a 2004 article but really highlights why we should put the tariffs back on foreign goods to increase production and jobs here.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dy ... ge=printer
Click to expand...

Well,,,,,,,, this gets into politics, and I dunno how long the thread's gonna last- but I think you're 100% wrong.

The question you should be asking is not "how can we make China stuff more expensive" but rather "why is stuff made there so much cheaper than here now, when it used to not be that way?"

What has driven manufacturing out of the US is high taxes and high costs of laws, and all that was enacted by US legislators. China doesn't make US laws now, and never did.

Until most USA people understand this, nothing will change for the better.
Nowadays Democrats and Republicans both agree on taxing and spending, the only debate they have is what to spend the tax money on.
 
Nothing to do with politics, and I'm not here to argue. When labor is free, or nearly free, anyone can produce a product cheaper than those who make sure employees get paid their due. We don't tell china how much to pay their workers, but we can help ourselves by imposing tariffs.
 
Wildcat said:
Nothing to do with politics, and I'm not here to argue. When labor is free, or nearly free, anyone can produce a product cheaper than those who make sure employees get paid their due. We don't tell china how much to pay their workers, but we can help ourselves by imposing tariffs.
Click to expand...
...then you would have to impose tariffs on countries where some middleman distributors of Chinese goods are located (Canada & Mexico), thus repeal NAFTA. :? Politics and world economy is a hard thing to separate.
 
But all would be a moot point if people wouldn't buy the cheaper goods, even knowing it's costing American jobs.
 
Wildcat said:
Nothing to do with politics, and I'm not here to argue. When labor is free, or nearly free, anyone can produce a product cheaper than those who make sure employees get paid their due. We don't tell china how much to pay their workers, but we can help ourselves by imposing tariffs.
Click to expand...
Amen, and add that the Chinese Gov also subsidizes raw materials to further aid China's economic advantage...but Wildcat stated the bottom line...I don't buy chinese crap when at all possible...do some research and seek out quality products
 
Taxation, regulation, corrupt unions, and the cost of litigation have killed American manufacturing. Nonetheless, people are willing to shell out huge money for fancy ten speeds, and mountain bikes. What if someone were to produce a 100% MADE IN THE USA simple canti- frame bicycle that matched or exceeded the quality of a Chicago built Schwinn, or a Worksman- a bike that would out last its owner. Would people buy it? I don't know. Would you spend $500.+ for such a machine? I think I would.

JWM
 
Worksman bikes are a good example. Here in Jax, they make Emory bikes. When I received a hardship discharge from the Navy in 93, I considered going to work for them. If I were single I would have, but I had a family to support, so I had to get a good paying job. They promised low pay and long hours. To stay in business, the quality bike made here will cost an arm and a leg. They alkso make Aerocycle bikes along with the industrial bikes, they look vintage and are costly. They don't make huge profits, materials and manufacturing costs keep the price up.
 
Tough subject, too emotional for many to look at objectively. I have been there and done that when it comes to China (Mexico as well). There are many misconceptions floating around. The average pay in China for a skilled worker in a major industrial city matches the exchange rate, roughly 8/1 Yuan to Dollar (one eighth of a worker in the US). This is not the pennies per hour that we are led to believe they are paid. Skilled workers are highly sought after by competing companies, their pay is raised each year at the end of their contract period or they go elsewhere. China is a highly industrialized nation turning out many high end/high tech products, if you get junk from China it is only because the U.S. company importing it has specked that they want to pay for junk. Remember those $5k-$10k fancy racing carbon bikes with old world European names on them are mostly made in China, you want quality then they will make it for a price. As far as environmental issues some are true, I have seen them but then I have also seen state of the art facilities that any American would love to work in. The Chinese workers are very aware of these issues and take them seriously as they know they don't want there children growing up in a toxic environment. The best thing I ever did was to spend significant time in China training their engineers and getting to know them. They are a wonderful warm, gracious, humorous people with a fine sense of family. They are like us and only want to make a better life for their children. The Chinese DO NOT TAKE our jobs, we GIVE THEM away, or our greedy corporations do. What we always heard was that this was for the good of the share holder, yet the largest private share holders were the top executives.

I am a veteran of the corporate world, an ex-engineering manager for a 10 billion dollar fortune five hundred company that used me and burned me out until my teams jobs were all sent overseas, my department slowly dismantled until a manager was not needed.
I write this on a Monday morning with no job to go to, I just want all to realize that the blame lies internally not with the Chinese.
 
c.p.odom said:
................... The Chinese DO NOT TAKE our jobs, we GIVE THEM away, or our greedy corporations do. What we always heard was that this was for the good of the share holder, yet the largest private share holders were the top executives.

................. I just want all to realize that the blame lies internally not with the Chinese.
Click to expand...

Quoted for truth. It's not just the Chinese that we are giving our jobs to. I have also been "outsourced".
 

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