Joe Smith started the day early, having his alarm clock (made
in Japan) set for 6 a.m. While
his coffeepot (made in China) was perking, he shaved with his electric
razor (made in Hong Kong).
He put on a dress shirt (made in Sri Lanka),
designer jeans (made in Singapore) and tennis shoes (made in Korea).
After cooking his breakfast in his new electric skillet
(made in India) he sat down with his calculator (made in Mexico)
to see how he could spend today.
After setting his watch (made in Taiwan) to the
radio (made in India) he got in his car (made in Mexico) and
continued his search for a good paying American job.
At the end of yet another discouraging and fruitless day,
Joe decided to relax on his deck with his wife, who was wearing her latest style
Liz Claiborne suit (made in China).
He put on his sandals (made in Brazil), poured two
glasses of wine (made in Chile) and turned on the TV (made in Indonesia),
and then wondered why he can㦙 find a good paying job in America. #
Editorial note: Companies in the United States and
Canada are now importing more than 1.3 billion garments a year from China, which
is about four garments for every man, woman and child in the two countries.
They are sold for nearly $9 billion.
Annual imports of footwear, toys and sporting goods from China total
about $15 billion.
The major apparel producers in China include WalMart,
K-Mart, Liz Claiborne, Dayton-Hudson, May Co., Federated and The Limited.