I have been hurt directly by Chinese tarrifs

[Texacon]

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100211126032

Wed Sep 12, 2018, 07:09 PM
Star Member Shanti Mama (966 posts)


I have been hurt directly by Chinese tarrifs

My little tiny company, trying to gain traction in the market, closed a deal to ship some product (a raw material) to China for use by a company there to manufacture a final product to be shipped back to the US for sale. This sale was a really big deal for us, right when we need it most.

Chinese customs would not clear it. They made all kinds of weak excuses that had no standing in the rules and regs. It was clear to all that they were simply being obstructionist as a show of power against the US.

It's not worth shipping the product back so today I authorized its destruction. Typing that is hard. We're trying to raise capital and this could have put us over the top. Now, I don't know.

DAMN the orange idiot! For my pain and suffering and for all that he causes to so many. And for the unfathomable damage he's doing to our country.

Uh huh .... something doesn't add up here.

fescuerescue (764 posts)

4. Wait wait wiat

Why don't you just make the product here? Instead of outsourcing it to the Chinese?

Roy Rolling (2,959 posts)

6. Hmmm

I don't understand either. What raw materials are shipped to China for manufacturing and then shipped back as a completed product to the U.S. for sale?

Someone calls BS, but the OP doesn't like that.

Ms. Toad (17,361 posts)

8. Have you done chinese deals before?

I've had a number of similar business dealings with China. It is notoriously hard to repatriate things - especially money or software. Did the raw materials you were shipping (or the product being made) include software or firmware?

And - not being in the rules and regs is par for the course. Complying with SOX is a challenge when the rules and regulations are not clear, (or directly contradict what you are being told) and bribery is expected as a way to unglue the works.

Sorry, and damn the orange idiot, but what you are reporting is very similar to my experiences dealing with China between 2000 and 2014, when the orange idiot was not in office.

Shanti Mama (966 posts)

20. This is a textile project. Repatriation would be easy.

Our customer chose China. WE have avoided it til now.

We were well aware that Chinese customs might make it tough. Our two different consultants came to the conclusion that this was above and beyond their normal obstructionism. The rules are clear. They made up new ones that made no sense and were, quite literally, impossible to meet.

We were willing to play the game. This time, they were not.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Ms. Toad (17,361 posts)

22. I was just involved in way too many long negotiations

trying to repatriate both goods and money. It was largely the demand for bribes (or other illegal activity) that created hang-ups because we were bound by Sarbanes-Oxley - and since they (by and large) didn't understand being bound by the rule of law and assumed we would ultimately play their game.

Now we get a clue!

GulfCoast66 (4,816 posts)

15. That sucks. But there is another side of the story.

I have reached the point in my career where I can buy American goods where possible and always do so. But the cost. A pair of US made pants are 2-3 times the cost of imported ones. 20 years ago there was a quality difference that made it worth buying American. But the quality of foreign made products go up, as do their costs as other countries lift themselves out of total poverty. I am old enough to remember when Japanese made products were of inferior quality. That changed quickly.

And available labor is another problem. Where I work almost all employees were native born Americans 35 years ago. But it is Blue Collar work. While it pays well for the type of work, The type of kids that used to come here and work are now going to college and getting professional jobs.

We are manufacturing more and more high-end products. But sewing products is a tough sell for many kids.

This is why abandoning the TPP was so devastating. We had the chance to tie overseas labor standards to free trade.

And Mechanization and robotics have totally changed manufacturing. Even had the textile industry not gone overseas, the number of employees in the industry would have shrunk dramatically do to automation.

As we now know, trade is very complicated!

Shanti Mama (966 posts)

19. This is a textile project, but it's not possible -- yet -- to do it here

We're working on Made in America, but we need uptake of our unusual, niche fiber first. We can't do everything at once!

   Wonder what kind of fiber we're dealing with here?  From a DUmmie!  Any guesses?

KC

[67 Rover]

Ms. Toad (17,361 posts)

8. Have you done chinese deals before?

I've had a number of similar business dealings with China. It is notoriously hard to repatriate things - especially money or software. Did the raw materials you were shipping (or the product being made) include software or firmware?

And - not being in the rules and regs is par for the course. Complying with SOX is a challenge when the rules and regulations are not clear, (or directly contradict what you are being told) and bribery is expected as a way to unglue the works.

Sorry, and damn the orange idiot, but what you are reporting is very similar to my experiences dealing with China between 2000 and 2014, when the orange idiot was not in office.

Ding, Ding, Ding we have a winner.  I have so many stories to tell about doing business with China.

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

So...

...taxes increase production costs.

[Texacon]

Ding, Ding, Ding we have a winner.  I have so many stories to tell about doing business with China.

You mean a communist country actually has people in places of power who expect you to grease their palms a little bit to get you what you need? 

Heh, if the OP is actually telling a true story, I would think they probably hired the wrong consultants to help them with their deal.

KC

[67 Rover]

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100211126032



Uh huh .... something doesn't add up here.



Someone calls BS, but the OP doesn't like that.



Now we get a clue!



   Wonder what kind of fiber we're dealing with here?  From a DUmmie!  Any guesses?

KC

Too easy. Hemp of course.

[USA4ME]

I hate it when the orange idiot keeps primitives from sending their raw materials to Chinese child-labor sweatshops.   

.