Made In America - Sold Out

[David G Baker]

Smithfield Foods does not have a great history of treating their employees descent. I can't believe that this sale will happen. Some one is definitely asleep at the wheel. We will be passing by their products in the grocery store from now on as well.

[Scott Shepherd]

As a fellow Virginian, I feel Keith's pain. Smithfield is a part of Virginia. It's not just a business that sells meats, it's an entire town. The people that make it up are normal, salt of the earth, country folk. People that would give you the shirt off their back, even if they needed it. I want pass up their products because they will be a Chinese company, I will pass on their products because of the way they have sold out their employees. Like mentioned previously, you almost can't stop buying Chinese products. I always laugh out loud when I see someone say "Ford and Chevy" are "American made cars", but Honda and Toyota aren't.

It's a real shame that they sold their employees down the river for a hefty bag of gold. I reward people that treat their employees good, no matter where the product of origin is. I believe that's all we have left. Support those that treat people well and walk away from those that don't. One day, it'll pay to be a good, ethical business that rewards in employees and customers with good service.

[glenn bradley]

I had heard the rumblings on this one and dreaded the possibility that it would go through. This isn't about wanting pork products. Shame on us.

[Keith Outten]

Besides the possible changes that may be ahead for the 46,000 employees I really feel that we should never allow certain services to be controlled by foreign companies. In particular we need to protect food, water and electrical services.
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[Brian Elfert]

It is almost impossible to avoid Made in China products unless you're willing to not buy some items or spend a lot of time searching. Is it really better to buy something made in Mexico, Thailand, Vietnam, or other countries rather than China?

I try to buy Made in the USA when I can, but I won't avoid a purchase because the item is not Made in the USA. I recently was looking for a hot glue gun. I sought out the Arrow hot glue gun because it was supposed to be Made in the USA and is a nice product. It turns out they moved production to China recently. I still bought it because it was better made than the other cheaper Chinese hot glue guns. I don't use a hot glue gun enough to justify a $75 to $100 made in the USA model.

[Phil Thien]

Besides the possible changes that may be ahead for the 46,000 employees I really feel that we should never allow certain services to be controlled by foreign companies. In particular we need to protect food, water and electrical services.
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I know other countries have limited their imports of US foods like rice, feeling they need to protect their domestic production.

[Michael Moscicki]

Smithfield's headquarters will remain in Virginia, according to a press release announcing the deal this morning. The companies also said that Shuangui will not close any Smithfield facilities, and will leave all employee agreements — and the existing management team — in place.

At least for now, no employees will be layed off and no factories will be shut down. Now once you stop buying their products, well who knows. Remember that they still have to pay taxes on U.S. earnings and the pork is processed in US factories with pork from American farmers.

As long as it's Made in the USA, I don't care what country the parent company is located in. It's more important that the average American has a job rather than where the CEO that reaps the profits is located.

Do I like the fact that a Chineese company is buying it? No, but why punish the 46,000 American factory workers for something that is out of their control?

[Stephen Cherry]

There is plenty of blame to go around. People buying the iphones, ipads, etc, and the Grizzly tools, they have given the red chinese the money to buy the ham company. One thing about blame is that it's always easy to blame someone else, while it's important also to look at yourself.

[Keith Outten]

Grizzly is an American company that imports from overseas. This is a different situation than an American company that is sold to a foreign company and because it involves food products. Purchasing machines is a win/win situation no matter what the source. Machines provide the means to manufacture which is why China has become such a major player in the world. As American manufacturing has decreased over the years so has our ability to provide for ourselves. At the same time we now have lost a majority of our baseline jobs and we have become a consumer nation.

Personally I feel threatened when large American companies purchase farmland here, the idea of just a very few corporations controlling our food supply is not a comfortable one to me. If foreign companies were purchasing our farms I would consider that a more dangerous situation. If the foreign company is in a Communist country the situation becomes even more intolerable.

The blame game is a waste of time because the American people are responsible for everything that happens here.
.

[Jim Matthews]

There is plenty of blame to go around. People buying the iphones, ipads, etc, and the Grizzly tools, they have given the red chinese the money to buy the ham company. One thing about blame is that it's always easy to blame someone else, while it's important also to look at yourself.

Thank you for clearly stating this.
The Chinese companies profit from this, and thereafter Central bankers invest the profits.

Securing a stable, safe and palatable food supply is a reasonable thing to do in a country with both cash
and a history or food riots. I note a rising shrill tone coming from this board, and our netizens that is unnerving.

It's a publicly traded company that was for sale. They want to export American products.
Neither sounds like a bad thing to me.

It's not as if they're buying up companies to jack up prices for domestic consumption.

[Jim Matthews]

This is reactionary, political and clearly in violation of the Sawmillcreek charter.

This sort of thing is why so many of us left Lumberjocks to come here.
Defending the wholesale shipping of jobs (Grizzly) overseas as a win-win,
but decrying the export of domestic products makes no economic sense.

Given that the mods and administration are actively engaged in this worries me greatly.

We're a bunch of hobbyist woodworkers blessed with the occasional submissions of genuinely talented professionals and gifted amateurs.

I do wish Sawmillcreek would adhere to this charter.

[David Weaver]

Grizzly is an American company that imports from overseas. This is a different situation than an American company that is sold to a foreign company and because it involves food products. Purchasing machines is a win/win situation no matter what the source. Machines provide the means to manufacture which is why China has become such a major player in the world. As American manufacturing has decreased over the years so has our ability to provide for ourselves. At the same time we now have lost a majority of our baseline jobs and we have become a consumer nation.

Personally I feel threatened when large American companies purchase farmland here, the idea of just a very few corporations controlling our food supply is not a comfortable one to me. If foreign companies were purchasing our farms I would consider that a more dangerous situation. If the foreign company is in a Communist country the situation becomes even more intolerable.

The blame game is a waste of time because the American people are responsible for everything that happens here.
.

Keith, I agree with you about the land. When it's land that has a chance of being taken out of productivity for manipulation, that's a problem. There have been a few very wealthy individuals buying gobs of land in the west and midwest, too. Ted turner comes to mind. I don't know that he's actually done anything to this point that's problematic, but the issue is the same as any other monopoly type situation, the ability to manipulate, even if it isn't used right away, always manifests itself at the worst time.

I think the USDA really likes CAFOs and larger packing companies and corporate farms, because it's a lot easier per animal for them to keep track. I don't think it's good for anyone else other than the USDA and the large operations, though. And when they streamline food production for more tracking, convenience, shorter turn around time and more inspection and paperwork, it makes it hard for the small local producers to offer something at a reasonable price.

[Brian Elfert]

I, for one, would buy American made products if production on most items hadn't been shifted overseas. Some items I will spend the time to look for Made in the USA, but things like nail clippers I won't spend a ton of time looking for Made in USA. Of course, American consumers are responsible for most of the shift overseas. American consumers will most often buy the cheapest item so manufacturers make stuff in places where their cost is less so they can sell for less. There is a bit of a resurgence in consumers looking for Made in the USA right now.

Moving production to China is not always about the lowest price for the consumer. Sometimes it is about more profit for the seller. Sears has moved production of their Craftsman mechanic's tools to China, but the price didn't go down any. I will no longer buy Craftsman since they moved production to China. I want Made in the USA mechanic's tools as much as possible and I can get decent Chinese made tools for less elsewhere if I wanted to go that route. Americans are still to blame for companies wanting higher profits since the stock market punishes companies that don't make more and more profit every quarter. Investors today look at the short term and never look at the long term downsides of shifting everything to China.

[David Weaver]

It's funny nail clippers are mentioned. I actually went out to find western-world nail clippers because every pair I'd found made in china were either soft or very poorly cut. Ended up adding a plain jane pair of giesen and forsthoff clippers to an order from a straight razor shave place (admittedly, not the kind of place most people are already ordering from) and they are so much better than the half dozen chinese pairs of garbage we have floating around the house that it would've been cheaper just to get the good ones first. They were only 6 or 7 bucks (the G&F pair made in german) for a pretty large one, they are sharp and everything on them is tight and lines up perfectly.

[Brian Elfert]

I think the USDA really likes CAFOs and larger packing companies and corporate farms, because it's a lot easier per animal for them to keep track. I don't think it's good for anyone else other than the USDA and the large operations, though. And when they streamline food production for more tracking, convenience, shorter turn around time and more inspection and paperwork, it makes it hard for the small local producers to offer something at a reasonable price.

If a small producer can't compete they will have to move onto doing something else for a living. There were dozens or hundreds of car manufacturers in the USA in the early 1900s. A few of the car manufacturers got really large due to mass production and economies of scale while the rest got bought out or closed up shop.