Back when I was on the SEMA board of directors, I sat in on meetings with trade lawyers, huge importers, struggling exporters, congressmen, etc. Some of these discussions took place in Washington, DC. This issue is
hugely complex, and very important to just about every country in the world. We're not going to solve it here on Garage Journal, nor are most of us even likely to completely understand the entire scope of this problem. I know that many of the challenges within this huge issue are too complex for my meager understanding.
Yet, it may be valuable to recognize a couple factual points:
First, the biggest problem in COO markings in the USA is
enforcement. There are only a handful of inspectors for millions of metric tons of imported goods arriving daily in the USA via land, air, and sea. And those few overworked inspectors are tasked with hundreds of responsibilities, such as stopping the flow of illegal drugs
(cocaine, heroin, etc), illegal weapons, fake pharmaceuticals, toxic chemicals, etc. They must also find pirated intellectual properties
(DVD's, movies, fake-label clothing, etc.) And in addition thousands of other difficult tasks, they must inspect incoming goods for properly-marked COO labels. It is a nearly impossible task, but they must do it, or our nation would drown in ripped-off and fake products. (
Indeed, several manufacturers of automotive speed parts have discovered fakes of their own brand-named products on the market, in packaging which is hard to tell from the original.)
Second, politics plays a giant role in our negotiations with foreign countries. For example: when we're trying to get China to help us keep North Korea from starting a nuclear war, it's sometimes expedient to concede some import/export issues with them.
Third (and this one may amaze some folks), China is growing so fast that they are becoming a huge customer for many American goods. For example, last year GM sold 600,000 more cars in China than they did in the USA. I learned this from a meeting with some SEMA executives, but here is a link to an article which appeared in CAR AND DRIVER magazine this year:
http://www.caranddriver.com/features/ford-and-gm-battle-for-sales-in-china-feature
Indeed, GM sold 4.5 times as many Buicks in China as they did in the US. Many, many US companies are looking to China for future sales. And Chinese citizens are apparently hungry for
"cool" US products. Thus, USA trade authorities are not interested in starting any trade wars over there, if they can help it.
Personally, I like to buy USA-made goods, when I have a choice. And I like that COO label to be very clear and easy to read.
(For the record, US Customs officials helped me with a legal concern about this issue years ago by simplifying the legalese about the COO label like this: "A consumer is supposed to be able to determine COO before they make a purchase, period." Yet, when you look through catalogs and online sites, the COO is rarely stated.)
Again, this issue is extremely complex, with myriad "side-issues" involved. For me, I will buy superior US or European products when I have a reasonable choice.
