Who is still paying $30,000 for a few pieces of leather stitched together and called it Birkin?

When China was still poor and could be kicked around, the West, particularly the USA took advantage of its low wages environment to outsource manufacturing to China. It was killing two birds with one stone. Firstly, the USA wanted to export its pollution and environmental issues to China and let China handle the global demonization, while it enjoys cheaper products just printing toilet papers in exchange. Secondly, the big USA manufacturers saw the huge potential of the Chinese consumer market that gave the USA companies opportunities to make tons of money manufacturing and paying low wages and selling their products worldwide. China was the goose that laid the golden eggs for the USA and the West, but greed made them killed it.

The USA only saw and hyped up the huge trade deficits that the country suffered against China, tallying what the USA bought from China and what China bought from the USA, ignoring the hundreds of billions their manufacturers made from their manufacturing base in China and selling their products worldwide and also in China. How much did the Chinese workers made for each iPhone manufactured in China and how much did Apple made selling that same iPhone worldwide? The Chinese workers made pittance while Apple reaped all the benefits. I am just talking about Apple in China alone.

We have now also seen the branded goods made cheaply in China, with the Chinese manufacturers unravelling the scam and all the money made by those top brands selling the Chinese made products at exorbitant profits, just by sticking a label on the product. Now the Chinese are no longer going to play the game, preferring to continue to make the same product to sell to the Global South countries. After all they are still making the same profit margin. The days of ripping off Chinese manufacturing are over and big brands are suffering. How bad it is, I am not sure. Of course, they can always find alternative sources to exploit, but quality and costs cannot be taken for granted.

How can the Chinese bear the insult by one drag queen's outburst that Chinese 'peasants' made cheap goods for the USA consumers to buy and then using the US$ that they are paid in to buy USA treasury bonds. That insult had repercussions, with China now selling less and less to the USA, while no longer having the excess US$ to buy USA treasury bonds. I think this is what the drag queen did not foresee nor wanted, but China is delivering its answer to her (him actually) on a platter.


Anonymous