Recently, a CEO of a Chinese toy company committed suicide after finding out that his products would be banned from America due because toys were suspected to possess an excessive amount of lead, according to a San Francisco Chronicle article . But it’s not just toys that are being banned in America. Other products such as tires, toothpaste, and pet foods are being discriminated against as well, for reasons that had previously gone unnoticed over the eyes of American officials. So why now, all of a sudden, is there such a big attack from America on these Chinese imports?

China, hands down, has a monopoly on imports in America. Most likely the reason for the banishment of these products is due to the fact that America’s economy feels threatened by Chinese competition. Clearly, you’re more likely to find products made in China rather than in the U.S.A. lying around your house. So it is obvious that our nation is dependant on Chinese imports. But it seems that America is just a little too late to get itself out of its extreme reliance on Chinese products. Chinese products are, by far, cheaper than those products made in our own country, and the American people have grown accustomed to these low prices. Because of these cheap imports, jobs are taken away from the American people. But if America were to ban the majority of Chinese imports, America’s economy could be hurt instead of helped. Prices on everyday necessities would be raised, and Americans would be less inclined to buy things. With Chinese imports, even low income Americans can afford a decent life style, which would be almost impossible if only made in U.S.A. products were to be sold.

But the only way American officials can see to solve this problem of reliance on China is to manipulate Americans into banning Chinese products by claiming that there are various problems in their goods. Officials are trying to find fault in virtually all Chinese imports, in order to scare Americans away from these products and incline them towards buying American made goods.

But in this logic, a major flaw is that the same could be said not only of Chinese imports, but of imports from other countries as well. The only reason China is being unfairly targeted is because of their great monopoly on international trade. American officials need to realize that China isn’t the only problem, and if they continue their current course of action, America could be lead into an economic despair rather than economic independency. – Maahum Chaudhry and Traci Liang