Made In China

Can anyone tell me please "what is NOT made in China?" Everything I seem to buy lately is made in China, designer clothes, electrical goods, self assembly furniture. I recently bought a brand new Hewlett Packard computer only to find when I got it home the drive unit did not work. That is, it did not break down but didn't work from the time I plugged it in. I found out later from the box it was made in China. (surprise surprise) Needless to say, I took it back and got another unit which did work but what infuriates me is the unit must have been faulty when it was packed as it showed a fatal breakdown in hardware/components not damage to the casing or anything like that.

So what happened to the quality control then? Was it a case of meeting delivery quotas and therefore packed anyway regardless of it being duff. Personally, knowing the deviousness of the Chinese I suspect this was the case.

This unhealthy push towards manufacturing in China can only mean that we are sacrificing quality for cost. Look at the Mattel situation as confirmation of this. I now always ask the salesman at any store what the country of origin is for the goods I propose to buy. They often look at me as if I am from another planet, as if to say "why does that matter". Of course it matters, I don't want cheapness in exchange for quality.

I think there should be a campaign among blue chip Manufacturers and they should be proud enough to state " This product was NOT made in China!". After all, for the sake of the environment we moan about shipping food half way round the world yet we are doing that with just about everything else we consume.