Who's this puffing down the track? said Christopher Caldwell in the Financial Times. Why, it's our old friend Thomas the Tank Engine'”with a cargo of poison for America's children! Parents of young kids are in an uproar over the news last week that Mattel is recalling 18.2 million Chinese-made toys because of dangerous defects, including brain-damaging lead paint and tiny magnets that can perforate the intestine if swallowed. The tainted toys are causing an even bigger backlash against Chinese imports than the poisoned dog-food scandal earlier this year, or the Chinese cough syrup laced with antifreeze that killed a hundred in Panama. All of a sudden, there are calls for the government to ban or better inspect the flood of dirt-cheap imports from China. But with 40 percent of all U.S. consumer goods'”and 80 percent of our toys'”coming from China, that's easier said than done. What really needs correcting here is 'œAmericans' misimpression that they can have top-quality products for bargain-basement prices.' Â
Don't blame the victim, said the Toronto Star in an editorial. American parents didn't buy these toys from the back door of some windowless factory in Fujian. They bought them from Mattel, an American company that is fully in reach of U.S. laws and market forces. If Mattel wants to be seen as something more 'œthan a distributor for Chinese-made toys,' it needs to start overseeing their manufacture, wherever that happens to be. It sure would be a nice change for American companies to take some responsibility, said Rex Huppke in the Chicago Tribune. Zhang Shuhong, the head of the plant that made these toys, hung himself in his factory when he learned his workers had used toxic lead paint. I'm not suggesting Mattel use Zhang as a role model, 'œbut at least it seems he gave a damn.'Â
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