In an age of increasing expansion, the Chinese have been doing a great deal of business with American corporations. In the wake of the past controversies concerning the safety of Chinese-made toothpaste and toys came a new breed of allegations of insufficient regulatory practices concerning the production of Chinese goods imported to America.
Oscar Meyer recently disclosed that it has opened up a manufacturing plant in China, prompting many to think twice about the safety and purity of the meat they have purchased. While many people believe eating hot dogs produced under even the strictest sanitary conditions is disgusting, there is arguably a big difference between biting into a certified made-in-the-USA Oscar Meyer wiener, which at least has to be held up to the Food and Drug Administration's prescribed measures of sanitation, and one that has been made in the Chinese plant under the supervision of a foreign authority which may not necessarily have the best interests of the American consumer in mind.
While it has long been known that China is one of the world's leading producers of counterfeit and so-called generic pharmaceutical drugs, they have also begun selling component ingredients to established American drug companies. Drugs made with these Chinese component parts are technically assembled in the United States by an American-owned corporation, but in many cases there have been problems with the purity of these imported ingredients, as they are synthesized in Chinese chemical plants, which do not fall under the umbrella of Chinese government control.
These and similar issues with imported consumer goods have become an increasing topic of concern for many Americans, as they are reflective of the much broader issue of Sino-American relations in the current political climate. China has been buying up America's foreign debt since the Clinton administration, which has given them a powerful bargaining chip on the subject of free trade between the two nations. Indeed, America is largely dependent upon China for trade, the effects of which will become increasingly more obvious to the average citizen in the coming years and decades. Our current policies in relating to the emerging superpower have left us with comparatively little leverage in regards to issues of trade and regulations on goods that are imported into the United States.
