MasterBeePerson209
An American family of four decided to do an experiment: can the…
An American family of four decided to do an experiment: can the family last for a year without buying “made in China” goods? After 12 long months, the experiment proved that
an American family could spend a year without buying anything made in China and
such a life would be extraordinarily challenging.
Approximately ten years before President Donald Trump launched his trade war against China, an average American familya middle-aged couple named Sara and Kevin and their four-year-old son and one-year-old daughter living in Louisianadecided to do a (nonpolitical) experiment: Could the family last for a year without buying “made in China” goods? One day after Christmas, Sara, a business reporter, faced in her living room a small mountain of “made in China” presents such as toys, gadgets, and shoes. Realizing that Christmas had become “a Chinese holiday,” she “wanted China out” as her New Year’s resolution.
After 12 long months, Sara’s experiment proved that an American family could spend a year without buying anything made in China and such a life would be extraordinarily challenging. Sara and Kevin coughed up huge additional costs not only in paying more for goods, but also in enduring countless inconveniences. They could no longer buy new toys for kidsexcept Legos made in Denmark, Switzerland, and the United States. For Halloween, Sara sewed two costumes for her children instead of buying costumes. She found out that, just like Christmas, Halloween was a “Chinese” holiday too. So was the Fourth of July.
When her son’s feet outgrew his $9 shoes made in China, Sara shelled out $68 for shoes made in Italy. Sara and Kevin could not buy a new coffeemaker to replace the “made in China” one that broke, as all coffeemakers were made in you know where. They ended up boiling water for coffee. Sara’s home office printer ran out of ink, and she could not find any cartridge that was not made in China. She knowinglyand semi-unethicallyasked Kevin to print her papers from his printer at work.
Eventually, exceptions in two areas had to be made. First, not buying stuff made in China did not mean not accepting gifts made there. To avoid too much hassle, Sara let her family accept gifts made in China. Otherwise, Sara’s kids would have become the most unpopular ones at birthday parties, because other kids’ parents who would buy toys as gifts to bring over would view Sara as too “difficult” for declining “made in China” toys. Then Sara’s kids would not be invited to birthday parties anymore. For his own birthday gift, Kevin expressed an interest in an inflatable backyard swimming pool. But as a loving father, he was really requesting this for the kidssummer in Louisiana is long and hot. Because all such pools were made in China, Sara was frustrated. Then she creatively decided to beg her sister-in-law to buy a pool for Kevin as a birthday gift, invoking her policy that gifts made in China were okay. Upon hearing Sara’s flexibility about gifts, Sara’s mothernever a fan of this new experimentimmediately shipped over a huge box of toys.
A second exception was that not buying stuff “made in China” only meant not buying anything with that label. To Sara’s horror, she discovered some parts of her hard-to-find “made in USA” lamp were made in China. Intending to return the lamp, she called the owner of the lamp maker. The owner informed her that only four companies still made lamps in the United States. All used some parts from China, but the bulk of the work done was in this country, thus qualifying for the “made in USA” label. The 100% “made in USA” lamp simply did not exist. Then Sara felt good about keeping the lamp.
On Christmas Day, Sara counted the gifts: the rest of the world contributed 42 items, and China still managed to show up via 11 itemsall courtesy of her mother and siblings. Looking back, Sara and Kevin became more thoughtful shoppers. The house was cleaner because it was no longer filled with the little things they didn’t really need but could not resist before the boycott. Her kids developed a habit of resisting instant gratification and reading (product labels). Sara was thankful that her ancient TV had not died. Life without a coffeemaker was hard, but life without a TV would be unbearable. In addition, lots of little things in lifesuch as birthday candles, holiday decorations, mousetraps, and video gamescame from China. Sara and her family were not sure they would want to go on without them.
On January 1 of the new year, Sara and Kevin delivered what they had promised: their kids could pick any three toys from a store. Both kids chose “made in China” toys. The family then lived happily ever after. Sara wrote a book and became a minor celebrity interviewed by American and Chinese media. When answering the question whether life without China was possible, she answered: “Not a chance!”
Case Discussion Questions
1.From a resource-based view, what have made Chinese products so competitive, despite conscientious efforts by Sara’s family to resist them?
2.From an institution-based view, would a trade war against Chinese imports with higher tariffs help or hurt American families like Sara’s?
3.On Ethics: Should Americans such as Sara and Kevin be concerned about the significant US trade deficit with China?
