RED TAPE ? What about the free trade agreement! Am I missing
   something here? In Oz we had US leaders (Maybe Clinton could be Bush
   Jnr) bangin" on about free trade. I guess China is ommitted/immune
   from such  BS.We are getting screwed here. If any of these items were
   made in the US quality would not be an issue,item price maybe, but
   how much is your ass worth? welcome to the quality(and thus price)
 battle.   Watch what the Krautes do, they dont waste their time on
crap, its   far to valuable to waste. I have an American made Walker
Mower very   costly, very. And worth every cent. As a proffessional
I respect   Quality and the high standard ticks all the boxes. would
I buy   something else, NO. You Yanks make some good stuff. Caterpillar
   aren"t the tool of choice because of price. Don't stop. Don't
trade quality   for price. We are digging great holes for iron ore,
and digging even   bigger holes to pile the cheap crap into after it
has broken, or even   worse just failed to do the job. You want to
Know why the US is   broke. your money is going off shore to manure
producers, and so is   ours. I'd rather spend 1$ on an American
peace of crap because It at   least would be advertisedas such and
usable on the garden. Somecrap   fails after serving no purpose at
all. Go ahead US. sell us all down   the shit stream. Or lift your
game, hold your head up, and hold   yourself above that low standard,
 Quality attracts quality, as   mentioned in the chrysler thread. If
they make rubbish they'll be  rubbished.    I hope this may inspire
some positive power. We in Oz make bugger   all. We're just diggin
holes, not to fill, just to empty. When thats   all gone and our
farms are all sold to the Chinese, we will truly be   part of Asia.
And resemble Arabs with no oil. WE ARE A CONTINENT,   STAND OUT, NOT
ALONE. Get it together peoples .Think global, act   local.   Tiger
Woods gets paid $1,000,000 to play golf in Australia,   win,lose or
draw. not because he is pretty,not because of his moral   standards
because of his golf. Quality will win-out. Watch and see   what
happens to Coby Bryant, the basketballer, If his game don't   suffer
he will endure,sad but true.

   Graeme Riley

   I just had a similar discussion with friends about Chinese poor
quality and
  hazardous stuff in products. Some of the hazardous stuff may not have
  shadowed
  our shores; but I am in doubt of the safety and quality. I am
looking for  product made other than China. They recognize no safety
and patent  obligations  like most other countries. When we buy
there we take jobs away from more  civilized countries. I may end up
walking around buck naked if I can not get  clothes made elsewhere!

  Dale Davies

  FYI Dale the Kiwi's make excellent clothing. I was given a jersey
when I was living in N.Z. in '95, it's a personal favorite, gets a
lot of use, and I reckon it's still got another 17 yrs in it. And
when it dies it'll make a good polishing rag, then grease rag. This was
made by Lenco, also try Fairydown, Canterbury Clothing, Swanndri,
 Line 7, Icebreaker, Postie, there are more. They make good clothing,
 They just don't make much noise about it. Oh, you'll also get excellent
service. If an Aussie is giving you a "good" report on Kiwi's, it
must be true. (lol).  Graeme.


Thank you Graeme,

It will take some searching to see if I can buy locally. I did buy some work
jeans made in Mexico and Bangladesh, who I think have better shall I say moral
standards. We had a GWG (Great West Garments) factory in Edmonton, Alberta,
Canada. A number of years ago it was closed and production sent elsewhere. One
of their products was Red Strap overalls with the red strap to hold a hammer.
I think the quality was better than Levis!

Dale Davies