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In April, pets in the United States mysteriously started dying off, which was traced to poisoned dog food filled with melamine, a fake protein filler derived from coal. In June, tubes of toothpaste were confiscated and thrown away when the poisonous chemical diethylene glycol, also used in anti-freeze, was discovered within them. Soon after, companies pulled millions of toys off the shelves when officials found them coated with paint containing dangerously high levels of lead, which can cause diarrhea, vomiting, headaches, and if high enough, even death in children.

The connection between all of these products? They all boasted a "Made in China" label, the manufacturing giant in Asia whose economy is rapidly growing in order to support its massive population.

While the United States, along with the rest of the global community, criticizes China for its irresponsibility, they have done very little besides speak angry words. The United States continues to trade with China without any repercussions. And China, while making paltry attempts at fixing the problem and making amends, such as executing Zheng Xiaoyu, the head of the Chinese food and drug administration for taking bribes, it has done very little to overhaul the system itself. No doubt more dangerous and lethal products continue to ship out to all the different parts of the world until they are discovered and recalled like the others.

The United States needs to restrict trade with China for various reasons. First and foremost, the U.S. Government has the mandate to protect its citizens from danger and harm (such as products from foreign countries that could kill them). Rather, politicians and businessmen alike are content at continuing to put their constituents and markets in danger of harm to make a few more dollars. Certainly, if China had been shipping in products irradiated with nuclear radiation, there would be an international uproar, but while there has been outrage, any action against the country has been disappointingly little.

But it's not just Americans who feel the pain from corrupt trading between the United States and China; recent scandals involving the "U.S. tech giants" such as Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Cisco show that in order to get their foot in the lucrative Chinese market's door, companies are willing to sell out human lives for cash. When the Chinese government needed help in tracking down a journalist who sent information to the New York Times about Chinese government

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