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The Chinese abuse of customs tariff loopholes made retailers like Temu and Shein into giants. The Biden administration’s decision to implement Republican congressional proposals to end the loophole is belated but worth supporting.
Temu is a nightmare of foreign holding companies, CCP data sharing agreements and malware apps and it has been growing rapidly using dark patterns and massive amounts of ad spending. Its growth is likely one of the factors wrecking domestic 99 cent stores. And the less of Shein said, the better.
But Temu and Shein are the tip of a much bigger problem. Cracking down on them helps Amazon and other Big Tech retail giants who are pushing the same Chinese junk on Americans. Amazon, Walmart, and other retailer marketplaces are packed with Chinese third-party sellers selling ‘Shanzhai’ products with fake and ridiculous names, counterfeit products that are copying and underselling American products,
Shanzhai is everywhere. A majority of Amazon is driven by Chinese third-party sellers pushing shanzhai junk.
Even the most casual search of Amazon turns up names like YITAHOME, sweetcrispy, OLIXIS, Prepac, YIGOBUY and LDTTCUK, and a thousand other absurd names. This has become the defining online shopping experience.
Even larger American manufacturers have struggled to get elected officials to crack down on Amazon. Recent court rulings finally held Amazon liable for the dangerous Chinese junk being peddled to consumers despite the company’s insistence that it’s just a ‘platform’ and has no responsibility.
Too many politicians, both Democrats and Republicans, however jump when Amazon demands action.
Cracking down on Chinese retail giants moving into America is important. But Amazon opened the doors. All Chinese retailers did was copy the Amazon model while using their Chinese roots to push junk faster at cheaper prices. And American companies that outsourced to China opened the door to Amazon.
If Chinese retailers displace Amazon and Walmart, the American retail economy is gone, and we’re close to it already. Our retail sector outsourced so much to China that all we are is a bunch of American storefronts beholden to Chinese labor, manufacturers, retailers, shippers and advertisers.
That is the real crisis. Dealing with it will require more than pandering to Amazon pushing shanzhai for profit.
Do you remember Sears and Roebuck? Whatever happened to them? Same business model with decades in the retail arena. The only difference was a catalog instead of a computer. Craftsman made the best tools in the world. I have an electric hedge trimmer that is 60 years old. Hmmm?
It is a shame that all the “bright” boys got MBA degrees. MBA is the acronym for Master of Bureaucratic Advancement. Now we have no jobs and no money. Thank goodness for the “intellectual” elite.
Here is a small sample of online sellers I came across while searching for a backup camera on Amazon:
Veralady, ATOTO, Aloma, Buonaldea, Tlaijiang
I have tried to exploit the power of boycott to help destroy businesses that are against our founding principles. NFL is not watched or discussed, Target, Bud Light, Disney, (Google, to the extent I’m able) are history in my world.
I plan to boycott Amazon.
Here’s the problem: Where do we buy? What about Walmart? Are they any better these days?
Who harvests the vegetables that I buy at the supermarket, illegals? Who puts the new roof on my house, or installs a sod lawn?
Our choices are shrinking. These days, it’s difficult to buy anything without harming America in some way.
Public Square is great, but I’ve yet to find what I’m looking for. I’ve been told it’s great for firearms related items, maybe guns too: https://www.publicsquare.com/
Mr Greenfield, I love reading your articles. You are articulate and intelligent. But respectfully sir, you are clueless when it comes to real world macro economics. You have bought into this foolish protectionist nonsense.
The CCP is evil. No argument there. Perhaps a full embargo on Americans doing business with Chinese companies (Though it may be useless without the rest of the free world joining in) may be called for to advance the human rights cause in China.
If we had a successful embargo on China, then companies would inevitablely move production to other low wage non-hostile nations. That could be an effective and moral way to put a stranglehold on the evil CCP rulers.
But you seem to support these foolish tariffs and other protectionist idiocies. The consumer decides what is junk and what isn’t, not you and the government.
End tariff loopholes you say? How about we forever just end all tariffs? Doesn’t our government tax us enough already? Don’t fool yourself for one second, tariffs are just another tax.
I never saw an economics student transfer to the physics department.
Not sure what your point is. Are you saying economic students aren’t that bright?
Most economic courses at universities are taught by far left marxist professors anyways. It’s more of an indoctrination into Keyensian economics. .
But if your point is what I think it is, that’s nonsense. I have never seen any carpenter students transfer into math majors. That doesn’t mean they’re dumb.
” the Biden administration’s decision to implement Republican congressional proposals to end the loophole is belated but worth supporting.”
Why would you want the government involved in individuals economic activities?
As a conservative commentator, wouldn’t you support free markets and free trade instead of joining the dems in this form of central planning?
Most of the vegetables and fruit in your local supermarket come from Mexico. That’t’s why they suck and taste nasty. Central California grows more vegetables and fruit than anyplace on Earth so why don’t we eat those? Oh, that’s right. It’s because those farmers charge more money than the spics because they DESERVE to be compensated for their work and competence.
Fuck Mexico. I’ve been there. It sucks.
I’m sure Mexico “suck”. Generally all third world countries suck. But the choice of produce is between customers and sellers.
Not sure what you want the public to do.
Try to buy good produce and avoid the Mexican shit.
Well, try not to lose too much sleep over other peoples shopping habits. I only have Korean cars and electronics. No one cares.
I have a Japanese car – Toyotas are the best – but my kitchen appliances are General Electric and Black and Decker. I have no idea where my air conditioner was made.
Honda and Hyundai make good cars, though.
Temu junk is just that – JUNK! I try – TRY – to buy good stuff when I can find it but it’s increasingly difficult to find ANYTHING without a “Made in China” label! Go to Walmart and TRY to find a tool or hardware item not made by Chinese slaves! We could solve so many problems in Our Nation by DEPORTING 20 to 40 MILLION ILLEGALS! BUT, people say “WHO WILL DO THOSE JOBS”?? Well, the SAME people who did them before! MILLIONS will be removed from WELFARE and TWO or THREE PART TIME jobs into better paying GOOD jobs!! When people are working there should be less crime since you’re WORKING and then hopefully too TIRED to be out committing crimes! What we save from less Welfare could be redirected into better benefits! So many issues can be fixed with a little COMMON SENSE and COMMITMENT!
A couple problems with your comment.
First, people are on welfare because it is there! The way to get people off welfare is to , get rid of welfare for able bodied people. Deporting people won’t get people off welfare if it is still available. Get rid of all welfare at the federal level. Should be a states issue.
If we start making everything here, it will be much more expensive, thus it will lower our standard of living. If stuff is made with slave labor in China, then perhaps a full embargo on China would be in order. Then companies can move production to other low labor non hostile nations like Vietnam and Mexico.
That is how you deal with something like this. Not the central planning your’e endorsing.
OK, I’ll type it on “Text Editor” and paste it on to Front Page.
The question is who would an embargo hurt the most. With COVID we learned that we depend on China for the masks that Fauci said we don’t need (the only time he was right). We depend on China for a number of indispensable raw materials that our digital technology depends on. (We don’t just depend on their cheap labor.) China depends on Taiwan’s chip technology (so do we). As China is run by reasonable totalitarians they carefully control who gets into the country. As the U.S. is run by incompetent Marxists they let anyone in, including able bodied Chinese males who can’t find wives in China. This allows for the infiltration of thousands of well trained saboteurs who will finish up any job the hackers couldn’t take care of. America’s infrastructure will be destroyed: no transportation, communication, drinking water, food. Our only available response would be nuclear retaliation–more of a deterrent than a solution.
China has already won its cold war and seems to be itching for a hot one, daily testing the patience of its neighbors around the Pacific. It’s not very afraid of our transgender army, and with our subs going co-ed the deterrent is diminishing.
Sooo… Mike, you want an embargo? I’d stick to tariffs for now. –AGF
You are wrong again. Trump isn’t implementing tariffs for nationally security purposes, or at least that is a secondary reason at best. Where Trump is wrong is, he wants tariffs for economic benefit and to reduce the trade deficit.
Tariffs are just a tax on Americans. They will mainly hurt Americans. And the trade deficit is meaningless. It is the “mean” word “deficit” that confuses Trump into thinking trade deficits are bad!
Mexico is extremely hostile. Vietnam isn’t, even though America fought a war there.