Number of dolls imported into the US from China
If you've shopped for dolls in the past several years, it might have struck you that even if you wanted to, you could not possibly find one made in the United States. Increasingly, the U.S. has been plagued with a trade deficit in the harmonized system commodity code #9502.10.0060, also known as, "dolls (unstuffed)." In 1998, at least 75% of dolls were imported into the U.S., according to the Toy Manufacturers of America, and that number is probably underestimated.
Mary Phillips) Date: Mon, Aug 21, 2000, 1:59pm (EDT-3) To: echristian@webtv.net (Elizabeth Christian) Subject: China and Dolls Hi Elizabeth
This is what I know:
I know that to work with porcelain dust means running a high risk of getting the dust in your lungs....like the miner's "black lung" disease of the last century.
I know that OSHA mandates a very cumbersome mask for working with particles of dust that small. I know that OSHA does not have control in China, Taiwan, or any of the Asian rim countries. China has one of the worst pollution rates in the world.
Do I think the Chinese workers are at risk? From what I have seen of the way China treats its workers....and its prisoners...yes.
Worse yet, neither China nor Taiwan are signatories to the International Copyright Protection Act....meaning that they can copy anything they can get their hands on, doll-wise.
Many many innocent American Artists have been duped that way...including some of the dolls on the television networks. But it is not just dolls....next time you go to K mart or Wally World, go down the aisles and look at the tags...almost everything is made in China.
How to pay....I don't know...What happens when all those Chinese workers find out how the rest of the world lives....and decide not to be wage slaves?
Mary