Individual Research Project: Trade Between
United States and China ChinaUnited States WHO: Nike, Converse, Ugg, Asics WHAT: Popular shoe brands are made in China at high demand subsequently high prices in the United States. WHERE: Many shoe companies, including Nike, have been charged with human rights violations in the making of shoes in Chinese sweatshops. These factories have become heavily guarded and secretive, and many people who work in them live well below the poverty line. Over 36% of people in China live on less than $2 a day, most of them seek work in sweatshops. WHY: Shoes are made in China because labor and materials are cheaper than in the US. Companies can greatly increase their profits and can heighten their supply because goods are made for less money and in less time. HOW: Shoes are made in mass quantities all throughout China, especially in proximity to urban areas. Additionally, goods are shipped on cargo boats across the Pacific, or come to the west on planes. WHEN: Since the 1980’s China’s economy has grown exponentially in part due to the increased number of sweatshops and factories. United States China WHO: Monsanto Soybeans, Soya Soybeans WHAT: Soybeans, although originally grown in Asia, are grown in the American Midwest and are traded with China in mass quantities. Annually, the US ships about 1.79 bushels of soybeans per year. WHERE: Soybeans are grown in the American Midwest, and remain a cash crop essential to the agricultural economy. Ships of soybeans are sent to urban Chinese ports, including Tianjin, Guangzhou and Ningbo. WHY: Soybeans can more easily be grown in rural American towns, and the land is very arable and fertile. China and much of Asia relies heavily on soybeans for their diet and many Asian dishes are based around the soybean. HOW: Soybeans are grown throughout much of Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois. The plants are shipped to China on large cargo ships and subsequently prepared and often packaged in Asia. WHEN: Soybeans grow best during the spring, and are typically planted at the conclusion of winter to ensure a plentiful harvest. Attitide Scale: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdPjwmRNPrUo07-Sl04OxzYYPKuH7z7iui_la04JA9UR62nbg/viewform In-depth Interview: https://docs.google.com/a/bostonk12.org/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd5DoslzVHoIjUK0inmYoHGQM_x5LlASIyQjvbMmLnuqVY8sg/viewform Data Analysis of In-Depth Interview: Question 1: Why do you think American companies move their businesses overseas, namely to China? Aisling’s Answer: “Because the labor in China is cheaper than it is in the U.S. so they can hire more workers for less amount of money.” Mikayla’s Answer: “China is cheaper, so it causes Americans to lose less money. Sometimes, it is to expand their business and make more money overseas, causing them to become well known.” Gracie’s Answer: “Because chinese labor is cheaper.” I am not surprised by the answers, as Americans are aware that the vast majority of our products are made in China and other southern Asian countries. Additionally, President Trump ran his campaign on demonizing other countries for “stealing” American jobs and prosperous businesses, so it has brought issues in relation to Chinese and American manufacturing to light. As consumers, we also know that products that are American-made are far more expensive than those made in China, considering the cost of manufacturing and wages are so much lower. Question 2: Do you think it is justifiable for Chinese workers to work in poor conditions in order to make a profit for American businesses and American consumers? Aisling’s Answer: “No, I do not think so, I understand from a business perspective how it could be seen as beneficial but they are entitled to basic human rights so it is not okay.” Mikayla’s Answer: “No, if Americans aren't treated like they are, we shouldn't have or businesses in places where that happens. It is a basic human right that we all be treated safely and humanely.” Gracie’s Answer: “No, because conditions in many chinese factories are deplorable.” Again, I am not surprised by the answers to this question, as so many movements toward rights of the working people have been championed in the Western world since the Industrial Revolution. Since China is industrializing currently, they are subsequently undergoing vast cultural and economic change. Nevertheless, countless human rights violations occur in Chinese factories and sweatshops, and companies often pay huge reparations for violating the UNiversal Declaration of Human Rights. In recent decades, many Chinese companies have found it necessary to board up windows in factories or construct enormous nets around the walls of buildings as to prevent the suicide of the tired and monotonous workers. Question 3: Why do you think soybeans are so critical to the American agricultural economy, meanwhile soybean farmers remain typically impoverished? Aisling’s Answer: “Profits go to the big corporations.” Mikayla’s Answer: “Soybeans are for many products, and Americans continue to profit without ensuring that the workers receive what they deserve.” Gracie’s Answer: “Because big businesses sell soybeans and farmers gain little monetary compensation for their labor.” All the answers are again essentially the same, and Aisling, Mikayla and Gracie all are aware of the way capitalism hurts average American workers. Often in our economy big businesses and lobbyists gain enormous swaths of money while small laborers and farmers earn just enough to get by. Additionally, the soybean is so crucial to the American economy because they have a multitude of purposes and are a popular and necessary crop worldwide, so the market for soybeans never depletes rapidly. Policy Change Suggestion: I would ask policy makers in both China and the US to heighten standards for workers and ensure benefits for their labor. As China continues to industrialize, it is essential that workers are safeguarded their human rights and that the safety and satisfaction of the workers is put above the profit of the companies internationally. In the US I would also ask for policy for American farmers to change, as they deserve larger compensation for their crops, rather than gaining an unstable wage as big businesses gain innumerable profit. Summary, Conclusion, and Reflection: In researching trade between China and the US, and popular products shipped across the pacific for Chinese and American profit, I have learned that more often than not businesses care more for monetary gain than the lives and well-beings of their workers. Conditions in Chinese factories are intolerable, and American farmers across the Midwest remain disenfranchised as they suffer for the gain of multi-million dollar industries. The cost of production of goods for western consumption in China is astronomical, and the wages American farmers earn for their labor is hardly a living salary. In conclusion, changes need to happen in both Chinese and American industries to keep trade flourishing and their citizens afloat. Works Cited Alibaba. (1999). Custom wholesale shoes, mature women shoes, shoes made in china high heels. Retrieved December 22, 2016, from Alibaba.com, https://www.alibaba.com/showroom/brand-shoes-made-in-china.html APPDMZ. (2002). Soybean seeds. Retrieved December 22, 2016, from Monsanto, http://www.monsanto.com/products/pages/soybean-seeds.aspx Newton, J., & Kuethe, T. (2015). The footprint of Chinese demand for U.S. Soybeans. farmdoc daily,(5):57((5):57), . Retrieved from http://farmdocdaily.illinois.edu/2015/03/footprint-of-chinese-demand-for-us-soybeans.html Soyatech. (2000). Information about Soya, soybeans. Retrieved December 22, 2016, from Soytech, http://www.soyatech.com/soy_facts.htm War on Want: Fighting Global Poverty. (1951). Retrieved December 22, 2016, from Waronwant.org, http://www.waronwant.org/sweatshops-china Where are running shoes made? Are any still made in the USA? (2014, November 6). Retrieved December 22, 2016, from DMCA.com, http://www.runningshoesadvice.com/?p=927
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Brighid McDonoughComprehensive Chinese at Boston Latin School. Archives
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