COVID-19 seems to have been a wakeup call bringing attention to how much we are relying on China to supply items we need. We are also learning how little we can trust the Chinese government.
Stories are coming out now of America not being able to get simple medical supplies we need such as aspirin and face masks. many of these things come from China and they aren’t playing nice with us right now.
Now I have nothing against the Chinese people, but it’s time we look at their government and determine if we want to continue to support their economic power grab.
I think one of the reasons we as people rely on China for supplies as much as we do is because most Americans have no clue how much actually comes from there. What does “Made in America” mean? What percent has to be American? What percent of products you use every day are imported?
Typically I’m not a fan of government intervention but here’s my simple idea. What if every product sold in America had 3 lines above the UPC. The red line indicated the percentage of materials (including packaging) produced in America, the white line shows 100%, and the blue line indicates labor to bring the product to market.
Ideally, it would also have an inverse line showing how much was from China but that would be much harder to receive political support for.
One of the hardest parts of this would be rolling it out because many producers wouldn’t have the information they need for their materials. But if any materials with unknown origin had to be considered 100% foreign it would quickly put pressure on the entire market to raise their American made percentage.
Now I’m not a politician so I don’t know what a bill like this would need to look like language-wise. I’m also unsure of what unintended consequences this would create. But I wanted to float it to the social world for opinions.
What do you think? Comment below.
2 Comments
Trish · March 27, 2020 at 7:58 am
I like it! I would definitely be more aware of what I’m purchasing then.
Judy Mitchell · March 27, 2020 at 10:36 am
When I have a choice, I buy American, like mushrooms, juice, fruit. I also look for countries that are USA freindly. The consequences to an idea like this can be interesting. When Joe Pitts was in office he voted for a trade bill with China. Many Americans did not want that bill to pass because of China’s human rights policies. Joe talked with not just business leaders, but also missionaries and church leaders. The latter wanted him to vote for it so borders would be open not just to goods, but also to people bringing the gospel to the Chinese people.