You know, when you're so focused on your own opinion you miss the most obvious thing in front of your face? A major impact on cheap chinese products, and those from other cheap labor countries, are the damage done by selling us poisoinous dog food ingredients, poisonous children's toys, toothpaste, etc. etc. The ripple effect through their U.S. customers, particularly those forced to pay from legal liabilities, has raised great resentment towards chinese manufacturers. There is now a distinction in the eyes of American consumers between American products, fabricated here at home and under American quality standards, and the corner-cutting, low quality, in some cases dangerous, products produced by cheap foreign labor. Not to mention the human rights and environmental aspects of buying from the Chinese, or the fact that they steal our intellectual property by the billions building an entire segment of their national economy from knock-offs of our products.

Investors are losing confidence.

It seems you've also missed a key point: There aren't American made alternatives to these Chinese products. Everything is made in China or elsewhere overseas.

With no alternatives, most people still buy Chinese because the only alternative is not buying anything at all.

I've read about 4 versions of the same story since the lead paint scare saying how hand-made toy manufacturers are doing better business now, but their market share is so vanishingly small a big increase for them still gets lost in the rounding when you look at the Chinese figures. (And the "hand-made" label prices them out of the budget for many consumers.) Plus, it's a safe bet when the child is begging for Lightning McQueen or Captain Jack Sparrow, Mom and Dad are going to buy that as opposed to a wooden train set.

Agreed. Purchasers are also losing confidence. We lost three cats last year to the Chinese wheat gluten/melamine fiasco. We have young nieces and nephews at risk of lead poisoning in toys. You, I and all our relatives are at risk of tainted heparin imported from China should surgery be necessary. The list goes on.

It is good for China that they are improving their labor standards and wages, (and hopefully quality) and should be ultimately good for us. If their prices go up, we will buy American again, reviving our manufacturing base and receiving goods that are subject to US regulations.

Shoddy quality in Chinese food/medicine is not supposed not get through the US import system, since we are supposed to have inspection protection from USDA, FDA, etc. However, this administration has removed the teeth and claws from these protective agencies by underfunding, and by using political appointments as party favors to friends and business associates.

Chinese boil dogs and eat them, make coats from the fur, then lie to us and sell it to us, they also boil cats and eat them. These sneaky, dishonest manufacturers are eroding the American economy, If there is no alternative, then dont buy it. or anything until there is. Some brat doesnt have to have the lastest toy, geeze those parents that give their kids everything they see on tv. We do not have to have the lastest crap they are peddeling, the commercials make it seem like we are not good, successful, wont be happy unless we eat at Mcdonalds or have the latest ipod, how stupid are we? I stopped the commercials years ago. I dont get magazines or newspapers, dont watch tv unless I have taped it and can fast forward through the endless commercials. Stop being run by the corporations, run yourself.... it is not that hard.

Yes - the buyer should beware, but within reason. We have agencies in place to assure quality of foodstuffs and medications coming in to this country but they are not doing their jobs. There is a great deal of implicit trust between merchants and customers. You must be able to trust that the can of beans contains edible beans, not botulism-tainted sheep testicles, and there is no good way for you or your merchant to confirm this.