Who asked the USA to be the World Plod?
Once again the USA goes out of it's way to make friends/create enemies. Not satisfied with blocking imports at it's borders it goes out it's way to stir up ill will. Then it wonders why is one of the most hated countries in the world.
The main driver in this sort of trade is the exorbitant profit margins Western companies make when exploiting cheap labour in overseas countries. If the differentials were reasonable, say 20-25% there wouldn't be enough margin in shipping knock-offs.
The better quality knock-offs are often made on 'third' shifts where the legitimate products are made on the day and evening shifts. I know of a couple of factories where this happens in Shenzhen, so the quality is there.
If the Western companies actually made product in the West they would be justified in charging such high prices.
I am amazed at the uses of Burberry style pattern (a true copy) are destined for. Burberry hot pants are attractive, as are the motorcycle gloves of the same pattern. Maybe the Facebook guy would like a Burberry Hoodie for Christmas. Really fetching.
A section of the company makes military and industrial robotic vehicles and I often pop over to China to get deals on parts. I was at a factory where they moulded Mecanum rubber tyres/tires (the tires that allow vehicles move in any direction without steering) .
I asked why some product was just poured into canvas bags in large quantity whilst others were packed 4 tyres/tires in plastic bags. The answer was that the bulk were being sent to dealers on InterNet discount sites and the '4s' were packed separately and sold for 8-14 times higher by the ultimate retailer.
These LED mass sellers in the West buy their product by weight. I bought 10 kilograms each of various colours - untested - and when they reached our plant (where we have a high-speed tester) the cost per 3mm LED was around 0.03 US cents each.
These are typical cost relationships for many, many products.
Western product samples are imported, they are X-rayed and analysed and even the software stripped from memories - forget e-fuse protection! I have a PCB contractor in Shenzhen who will let me see any part of his operation except how they strip software from ROMs, etc.
Talking about World Plod. Did you know the U.S. Coastguard (for safeguarding 'homeland' coasts) has a Coastguard Base in Israel!
Biting the hand that feeds IT
