Wal-Mart CEO Urges Congress to Keep the Chinese Imports Coming

Was there ever any letter sent by WalMart regarding sanctions on toy importers? Just asking. I never even saw them show up alongside Mattel and other manufacturerers at the Congressional hearings this fall. But now,they and other clothing manufacturerers are concerned about THEIR international obligations(i.e.,PROFITS)? What about their obligations to THIS nations consumers??I read where some of the clothing imported had three times the allowable levels of formaldehyde in them,although clearly labeled non-flammable,causing a young child to ignite when he stood adjacent to a heater.(Consumerist.) This issue of manipulating the Chinese currency is the Dragon,not the elephant, in the living room....and it’s been draggin’ us down for far too long ,now.

There is a PBS documentary titled “Is Wal-Mart good for America?” In it an ex Wal-Mart manager is interviewed. He said that in the 1980’s Wal-Mart began having financial difficulties. One day he said they began receiving boatloads of junk made in China.  Wanting to know what was going on he called Bentonville to ask what was happening. Bentonville told him that this was what they were selling now.
Selling all this cheap stuff made in China succeeded in turning Wal-Mart around. I believe it has kept Wal-Mart going all these years. If I am correct, 80% of what they sell is made in China. Wal-Mart needs products made cheaply in order to continue to stay in business. Take away Chinese products from their stores and they’d be in big trouble.

You Got it Jane!

And then take away all the stuff made in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Vietnam, India, Thailand and Cambodia and Wal-Mart would be in even worse shape.

The protectionists don’t understand how the global economy works. They are pandering to displaced or worried domestic workers.

Let’s suppose that tomorrow the US imposed a tariff of, say, 500% on every TV imported. So $100 set would cost $500 instead. The reason that would be given would be to stimulate US production. But there is no US production of TV’s. “OK”, say the protectionists, “such a high tariff will inspire some one to start manufacturing in the US and get an edge.”

But to make a TV you need chips that are made in Asia, LCD or plasma displays made in Asia and other specialized components. Are we going to import these? If we do is there going to be a tariff on them as well? If we don’t do we also expect new makers of components to pop up in the US?

Let’s take the simple case of memory chips (even used in TV’s these days). A factory to make these costs over $1 billion to build. In order to justify the investment it has to sell a lot of chips. The US is not a big enough market to make this sort of investment worthwhile. So the new chip factory will have to export as well, but it won’t have a cost advantage with its foreign competitors. The same reasons the chip makers are now in Asia will still be true and the additional sales in the US won’t make the difference.

So tariffs or forcing currency revaluations on the part of China will not do what the politicians claim. It will only make the items more expensive in the US.

The US needs a new national industrial policy, and pretending we can go back to being a manufacturing powerhouse is not going to be the solution. That horse has left the barn.

Jane,

Is that the same PBS documentary that your resident contributor from San Diego has quoted at least several dozen times?

Regardless of who said what, the story definitely has holes in it.

In it an ex Wal-Mart manager is interviewed. He said that in the 1980’s Wal-Mart began having financial difficulties.

Are we talking the same 1980’s that was (more or less) the rise of Wal-Mart?

Unless you were from the south or midwest, chances are many people had never even heard of Wal-Mart during that time.

The 1980’s were known as the era of Sam Walton and his “Made in USA” campaign.  The flood of Chinese imports into the American marketplace didn’t happen until around the mid-1990’s.

History tells us, if Wal-Mart is indeed having problems, it most likely began about 6 years ago with the cyber-prominence of the critics, and a stagnant stock price.

IR

Wal-mart is a anti American, commie loving group of thugs that should move their home office to the real land they love.

Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton once said, “I pay low wages. I can take advantage of that. We’re going to be successful, but the basis is a very low-wage, low-benefit of employment.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Wal-Mart#_note-
iswalmartgood

“Is Wal-Mart Good for America?” PBS. November 16, 2004. Retrieved on February 24, 2007.

WalMart- ‘Living wage?’ ‘Health care benefits?’ We don’t understand. And we don’t want to either. Dumping our ‘associates’ onto the states for welfare and health care helps the multibillionaire Waltons to get through the month on their tight budget. Thanks for all the suckers like No. 26 for paying WalMart’s tax bill without any complaints.

Nothing like Sam Walton putting holes in his own business practices eh #26?

No more so than the holes in your head, SanDiegoView…

...we’re talking serious swiss cheese!

robertdfeinman in: “The United states needs a new industrial policy”...I was thinking the other day about American lifestyle prior to malls and supercenters and NAFTA,CAFTA,SHAFTA....etc. The indomitable can-do spirit of ambition and invention certainly well served our country and the world as the standard for entrepreneurship and personal opportunity. Yes, sadly, I, agree that the horse has left the barn,(and there’s a lot of finger pointing as to who let him out.) Now here’s my suggestion. You mention memory chips. Why could’t we make them here at very low cost by utilizing a segment of the enormous, incarcerated population ,perhaps as a part of a training program. I don’t know if there are any laws against this,but it would seem a win-win for all.

ddrb - “Why could’t we make them here at very low cost by utilizing a segment of the enormous, incarcerated population ,perhaps as a part of a training program. I don’t know if there are any laws against this,but it would seem a win-win for all.”

I am sure that the unions would have much to say against prisoners being used as ‘slave labor’, to take the place of American workers.  Also, human rights groups would complain that those prisoners were being exploited.  Also, most prisons are run by the government and our form of government doesn’t promote state owned industry, like communist countries and dictatorships do.

how come everyone is so dam quiet on the other retailers and mom and pops that import the same things from china walmart does?

ddrb:
Chip plants are mostly automated. The few workers needed are highly skilled. It is the capital investment and the need for companion suppliers that determines overall suitability for a location.

Here’s some news about IBM’s Fishkill NY plant which has been operating at a loss since it opened a few years ago.

“In the end, the final cost came to over $2.5 billion. By 2007, the price of building a fab is expected to reach $6 billion.

By contrast, in the early days, building a manufacturing plant for chips was sort of like shopping for art supplies.”

As I said such expensive plants need a world market to make them profitable, this becomes harder when low cost competitors are already in production.

Robert and Jerry: Thanks for the feedback. I realized that it may have sounded somewhat “out of the box”,but it seems this is an enormous segment of untapped labor potential,and tax payers are shouldering an ever increasing $ burden. I was aware that there could be objections from certain segments,but I do know that license plates have been produced for some time in these institutions.I also saw a television program about call centers using inmate labor. I know there is a prison in Louisiana that grows and harvests its own produce, Angola.I have always thought it would be a ready source of seasonal labor to harvest fruits and vegetables,which is being done by migrant workers,now.Any opinions,anyone?

“The US needs a new national industrial policy...

Just as easy as saying, “The US needs a national energy policy,” or “The US needs a new healthcare policy,” or “The US needs a new immigration policy.”

Much easier said than done, robertdfeinman.

“how come everyone is so dam quiet...” ~matthew vantress

It’s called ignoring you, matthew!

Jerry in:If I may, in regards to your “slave labor” reference-I advocate no such thing.It could be debated that the very low minimum wage constitutes slave wages-not to mention the real slave labor required to supply the consumers’ acute addiction to the cheapest retail goods possible.Who is the slave,Jerry,someone working two jobs to make ends meet-(and too much month at the end of the money), possibly having a home foreclosed on ??Or, someone sitting in environmentally controlled comforts-three hots and a cot,watching T.V. all day,access to computers-on the public dime , for criminal acts.There are no well adjusted slaves,Jerry,but just who are the “slaves’?

IR26 in :Your post states that a stagnant stock price invited cyber critcism approximately six years ago. You also stated tha the Chinese imports began in the mid 1990’s. At what point in time did the stock begin to stagnate?

ddrb - The problem is with how the term ‘slave’ is used.  The general definition of a ‘slave’ would be: Someone who is forced to work against their will, with no choice to do anything else.  In essense, the term ‘slave’ could be used to describe inmates.

That being said, I believe that as long as taxpayers are going to support inmates, they should be asked to pay for their keep.  I, myself would have no problem with making inmates do something useful to society.

How about Mexican slaves used by WalMart to clean their stores at night who are desperate for any job? How about American impoverished ‘wage slaves’ working at WalMart to enrich the multibillionaire shareholders. This is about Global Labor Arbitrage and raking off the difference for those who can manipulate and exploit labor (American, Mexican Chinese) for the extreme profit of a few multibillionaires named Walton.

WalMart- We are not going to share the profits with the people doing the work like those bastards over at Costco who pay a Living wage and have 92% paid health care. They can afford their mortgages with the decent pay they receive, WalMart ‘associates’ can go down to the welfare office if they don’t like the impoverishment wages and lack of health care we offer. Why should WalMart pay a decent wage when wage slavery is making a great economic comeback? We create poverty.

Jerry in: Well,that’s an interesting reply,Jerry. I think that I may have said in my earlier post,that a segment of the inmates could be used,perhaps for training.If whatever goods or services attempting to be produced or provided was not mandatory,but elective,with a small amount of remuneration being provided to the inmate,this concept could provide benefits all round.  I certainly did not mean to turn the instituions into gulags!(BTW, I read somewhere thhat operating prisons is a HUGE business, as government has abdicated much of this to the private sector.I think Wackenhut is a biggie,if I’m not in error.)

sd view how about all the other u.s companies that use mexican slave labor?funny we dont hear a dam thing from you on that.

They-all-do-it! Matthew’s one-trick pony.

Matthew: There are no companies that use Mexican slave labor. That takes care of the answer.

sd view how about all the other u.s companies that use mexican slave labor?funny we dont hear a dam thing from you on that.

matthew vantress in gresham oregon

Matthew, it is plain to see that you are a tie in character from another regular Wal-mart loving regular contributer.
When ever someone on purpose doesn’t add capital letters, doesn’t leave spaces between sentences etc. then they are trying to present their second character online.

WalMart got busted for using illegal Mexicans through fake cleaning companies and locked them in their stores at night. Tell us ‘economic realist’ ( aka paid WalMart internet fraud), how much minimum wage and/or taxes they were paying for these people? Answer ZERO.

“There are no companies that use Mexican slave labor.”
economic realist in e.g
Saturday, November 17 at 06:52 PM

Tell us how many slavery charges have been filed in the U.S. just in the past 12 months? At least a 6 in San Diego County connected with the hotel/motel maid and housekeeping services. WalMart is hardly any better in the way the treat their ‘associate’ slaves.

WalMart- Hot Damn! If only slavery were legal. We are the next best thing, technically and its ‘legal’. Poverty of others is what makes us money.

Makes one wonder, the way SanDiegoView, tosses around the work SLAVE, what the ‘real’ slaves would think of it, were they here today.  Those slaves, didn’t have the opportunity to pick their place of employment and weren’t allowed to go home at night, they lived where they worked.  I think it is a shame, that someone would diminish the plight of the ‘real’ slaves, with such liberal use of the word.

Jerry in :I’ve reread every post on this thread,and to be fair,the first person to use the word slave,as in “slave labor” was you,in your 2:00 A.M. Saturday post.,,,"I’m sure the unions would have much to say against prisoners being used as ‘slave labor’....

To all posters here:

If you are CEO of Wal-mart, how will you run the company? How will you treat employees in Wal-mart?

Beijing girl?  Ummm, yeah whatever you say.

You’re from Beijing like I’m from Bentonville.

I’ve used the word ‘slave’ a couple of times and upset the capitalists here but by your own admission: Capital chases cheap labor. And what is the cheapest form of labor?

Do you honestly believe there are no slaves in Wal-Mart’s global supply sytem?

To ScrewedbyWal-Mart ---Do you work for Wal-mart in Bentonville? Why do many Americans hate Wal-mart? There is also a web site (we call it post bar) about discussing Wal-mart in China. The difference is that most posters discuss their supervisors or managers or senior managers include the ones in HR department. Most posts exposure something ugly in Wal-mart China. Many of them hate the managers in Wal-mart rather than Wal-mart, because it is them who make everything in Wal-mart China disorganized.

To Ken V--machine is the cheapest form of labor. Because they can work for 24 hours a day and 365 days a year without extra payment. There would be no slave in Wal-Mart’s global supply system if the supply chain system controled by hardware, software, internet and other machines rather than human being.

...system controled by hardware, software, internet and other machines rather than human being.

That’s the plot-line of the Terminator, Bg.

“Matthew, it is plain to see that you are a tie in character from another regular Wal-mart loving regular contributer.”

For the narrow-minded, I suggest you google Matthew’s name......he’s been making the rounds at several Oregon-based blogs, for some time, now…

Bet that hurts, SD View!

“...hate the managers in Wal-mart rather than Wal-mart...” ~Beijing girl

You can’t hate the one without hating the other, bg.

Screwedby: Old Italian proverb,"Fish rots from the HEAD.”

That’s a “Keeper Quote,” ddrb!

I’m sure Ken liked that one too!  He loves his one- liners...especially when they refer to Wal-Mart.

True merit, like a river, the deeper it is, the less noise it makes.  ~Edward Frederick Halifax

“Matthew, it is plain to see that you are a tie in character from another regular Wal-mart loving regular contributer.”
Not fooled by matthew in
Saturday, November 17 at 07:16 PM

For the narrow-minded, I suggest you google Matthew’s name......he’s been making the rounds at several Oregon-based blogs, for some time, now…

Bet that hurts, SD View!

Ouch! in
Monday, November 19 at 09:22 AM

Oh really. Looking to give yourself some glory Matthew? God gives grace to the humble, even in Gresham Oregon.

“When someone sings his own praises, he always gets the tune too high.” ~Mary H. Waldrip

Actually the cleaning companies hired the illegal Mexicans.  Wal-Mart hired the cleaning company.

Wal-Mart does not have “Slaves” working for it.  That’s a ridiculous accusation with no Merritt.

Big T : At first glance, it appears that you are attempting to do some cleanup,,for WalMart,yourself, on this blog,before Black Friday....why are you so visible and interested “all of a sudden”?

P.S.-WalMart always subcontracts to give themself “plausible deniability.”

so does target,k-mart ,costco and your favorite stores ddrb

Matt: The Bush administration has been doing it for two presidential terms,now!

You’re right SanDiegoView, I just did a google on Matthew and he bitches and rants to lots of the local rags in Portland.  He is particularly upset about illegal immigrants.

Me thinks Mr. Vantress should do a google on Walmart’s record for hiring illegals.  But let us be prepared for:

Why are you guys complaining about the other stores who have hired undocumented workers?

And I’m sure he will claim they do it more often than his faithful Walmart even if statistics and facts prove otherwise.

hey corgi why dont we google all of your favorite stores that hire illegals?why dont you pick on all the comapnies in america corgi that hire and use slave labor?like all the nurseries.its a fact corgi there are more illegals working at other us companies than walmart.