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Relationships are built on trust. How can the US possibly trust China with everything that has gone on in recent months?

In the US and most of the Western world, we have stringent laws to protect the consumer. Manufacturers have a responsibility to ensure that what they produce does not present any risk to the buyer. Whenever a company flouts the law, then it will quite rightly feel the full force of the legal process.

It appears that China is bent on world domination. It has the workforce to mass produce goods. There are few effective employment laws in China to protect workers. They mainly work in appalling conditions for precious little pay. The bosses who exploit them are only interested in producing products as cheaply as possible.

They take advantage of our greed. We love a bargain. Instead of quality, we seem to be more interested in price. Let's hope there are no serious consequences of what we have discovered. A number of toys made in China have been discovered to contained potentially lethal chemicals and parts. They have quite rightly been withdrawn en masse from the shelves. But is it too late for some children? How many of the toys have gone into circulation?

What these Chinese firms have done is reprehensible. Their only concern has been to make money. They have undercut reputable Western firms and priced them out of the market. They have shown a complete disregard for human life. Perhaps that is understandable with some of the things that have gone on in China over the years. The lack of respect for life seems to have filtered down from the politicians to the businessmen.

So, what does the US do? Sit back and wait for the next discovery of potentially lethal toys to hit American soil? I think we need to take action. Let's not talk about whether or not we continue China's privileged trade status. Let's ban Chinese products altogether. A country must protect its citizens, particularly the vulnerable (in this case our children). So, when another nation shows a lack of care towards our citizens, we should react. The ban could be reviewed periodically. But it would be up to China to demonstrate that it had put its house in order before we resume trade at all.

There will be those who argue that China is on the verge of becoming a world power and we do not want to risk alienating them. My answer to that is that it is the Chinese who have caused this problem. It is up to them to solve it. No more American children should be put at risk by their lack of care. We can have no trust in China as things stand.

Learn more about this author, Phil Hill.
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