Not Made in America, Wal-Mart Looks Overseas For Online Vendors (reuters.com)

Walmart.com, trailing Amazon.com in the number of goods for sale on its website, is recruiting vendors in China and other countries to boost its online offerings in a pivot away from Wal-Mart's Made-in-America campaign. From a report: While there is a financial incentive behind the move, Wal-Mart's decision comes out of necessity: not all the goods its customers want -- ranging from jeans to bicycles to beauty products -- are manufactured within the United States. That reality pits Wal-Mart against President Donald Trump's "Made in America" push. It also risks alienating some of Wal-Mart's existing U.S. vendors since it runs counter to the American-made pledge the retailer made in 2013 in a bid to win customers, and satisfy unions and other critics who said its drive for low cost goods was undermining American jobs. According to two sources with knowledge of the matter, Wal-Mart Stores in February began inviting sellers from China, the United Kingdom and Canada to list on the marketplace section of Walmart.com, where it earns a share of revenue from goods sold and delivered to customers by third-party vendors.

Comments

I am shocked that global commerce isn't easy!

[jellomizer]

The Globalization Genie had been opened. Trying to get it closed will not be easy.
There are some tasks that just doesn't make sense for America to do anymore. Putting workers pay and working conditions aside. It is just trying to find people willing to do that particular work. Kids today are not looking for manufacturing jobs. The manufacturing jobs in America are for higher cost items, because these jobs require people with real skills to build.

Re:I am shocked that global commerce isn't easy!

[bluefoxlucid]

There are a number of things to consider.

There are some tasks that just doesn't make sense for America to do anymore.

This is correct; however,

It is just trying to find people willing to do that particular work. Kids today are not looking for manufacturing jobs. The manufacturing jobs in America are for higher cost items, because these jobs require people with real skills to build.

That isn't.

The Chinese are fantastically-skilled manufacturers. They have the capacity to produce the highest-quality goods--or any quality of goods--at the lowest cost in terms of labor (hours), not just in terms of wage-labor (wages x labor).

People economize. People want to expend ('spend) the least means for the greatest ends. In other words: they want to get things as cheap as they can. Less work, less money, less whatever from them, more of what they want to them.

Americans, thus, have a huge demand for the lowest-price goods they can get. To American business, that doesn't just mean outsourcing to cheap Chinese labor; it means paying the Chinese half as much to make a low-quality good when they could damned well get a high-quality good that no American manufactory could ever produce at a reasonable price at any quality level. People don't want a $36 electric can-opener that their grandchildren will inherit; they want a $19 can-opener that they'll replace in 5 years with a fancier model for some unfathomable reason (this one cuts from the side to produce no sharps on the lid--just on the can!).

Do you know why there are no manufacture jobs to make can openers in America?

Because you can't pay American workers. Nobody's buying the product for $100 (the American wage is higher, after all); and the Americans can't make it as well as the Chinese, besides. You don't have a revenue stream. Those jobs don't exist because of lack of demand.

Trade advantage. We're richer because we get the same products cheaper.

This 5% unemployment isn't going away; it'll spike in the next recession, and then recede to around 5% again. We're at 4.7% now and we're not going to see 3%, although we might be able to squeeze a bit more out if we can go expending peoples's savings (notably, the huge savings of venture capitalists) to create unsupportable jobs and start-ups that will eventually collapse as the rich-people money runs out.

We're not going to see permanent 10% unemployment or permanent 3% unemployment; we're not losing jobs to China. Oddly enough, manufacturing e.g. pants in America instead of China would decrease total American jobs: we lose the retail, shipping, and other support jobs that are based purely on volume of goods (a retail cashier scans 980 items per hour; a 40-foot trailer carries 20,000 pairs of pants) when the American factories crank out expensive goods. People can afford fewer of those high-priced goods, after all; and the American factory worker can't spend his money until he's earned his money, so it ticks around like a clock (in a computer, synchronizing the pipeline).

Theoretically, 178,000 Chinese workers (40-hour week) supply all the import men and boys's cotton trousers and shorts America buys; there are 158,000,000 working Americans. "The money stays in America" only means it goes to those 178,000 Americans--theoretically. When the money can't buy as much, it goes to fewer Americans--say 59,000 (3x as expensive). Those Americans can't offset the loss of purchasing power of the other 158,000,000, and so less is purchased in total, less is moved and retailed, and many of those others lose their jobs.

Why can't Americans buy so many pants when pants cost $30 or $50 instead of $15? Because the American worker must work twice as long to earn that wage!

Finally, there's this:

Putting workers pay and working conditions aside.

Chinese wage and social insurances were

Re:I am shocked that global commerce isn't easy!

[blindseer]

Get rid of the minimum wage and they might.

I'm sure people are aghast at the thought of getting rid of a "living wage" but hear me out. Imagine how much it would cost you in real dollars to lose the use of one of your bedrooms. I know a lot of people on Slashdot are college students, so just imagine a small family in a typical three bedroom house with two parents and one or two children. What does one bedroom "cost" in real dollars? Not much, it's hard to put a number on it with so many variables but I think we can agree the cost is small.

What is that room worth to someone looking for somewhere to stay? In real dollars? That could be somewhere between half and a quarter of the mortgage. Now the family, with two working parents, might just love to have a young trustworthy person to watch the house and children while they work. If they have to pay minimum wage then this is priced right out. If they can agree to pay in shelter, food (because what would one extra person cost in food for a family of four?), and a small monthly stipend then this might be a worthwhile job for a lot of people.

I could see this as a valid career for someone. They might specialize in certain kinds of care, perhaps going from family to family every couple of years to care for small children, or older people, or whatever. If they are good then they could perhaps demand a good stipend and retire to a place and hire their own house keeper.

I'm sure if someone was willing to do the proper paperwork to avoid the minimum wage laws that this is possible now. Certainly wealthy people do this already. If more people can get a start working at any wage then they can demand a higher one later.

I think it all starts with doing away with the minimum wage.

Are you kidding me?

[jedidiah]

You must be joking.

Wal-mart hasn't been about "made in America" since the last century at least. THEY are the ones pushing companies to cut prices at any cost and outsource manufacturing to China to begin with.

They are the LAST place I would go looking for stuff made in the US. They try to drive those kinds of companies out of business.

Re:Are you kidding me?

[Tablizer]

They've been slapping a big patriotic logo on the few percent of their items actually made in the US, and the rest have "Made in China" in teeny weeny little letters. You have to buy their Chinese-made magnifying glass to see it.

Let the Wal-Mart bashing begin!

[blindseer]

I don't like Wal-Mart. I remember a long time ago when Wal-Mart would advertise that everything they sold in the store was made in the USA. Then one day those advertisements stopped. They still had ads on TV but the claims of everything made in the USA wasn't part of it. Then it was how every day they dropped prices. Cheap, cheap, cheap, that's what they sold.

When I had to move to a new town and buy some things for my apartment I didn't know where I could shop. I did happen upon a Wal-Mart though. The place was dimly lit. It smelled like cheap plastic. And, the other shoppers looked like extras from a horror movie. The wastebasket I bought then stunk up the whole apartment. I told myself that I'd only go back to Wal-Mart again only if there was no other alternative.

I'll still go back once in a while. Usually because I'm taken there by someone I'm shopping with. The stores are brighter now. The stench is gone. The quality of the shoppers is hit and miss. I've learned what is "safe" and "not safe" to buy for the most part. Milk is usually safe, fruits not so much. I've learned to also look for brands I recognize. Schumacher? Never seen them before, probably crap. Deltran? I've heard of them, I'll get that instead.

If I need to buy something right away I've got lots of choices besides Wal-Mart. Would I go on-line to buy anything from them? Not likely. Sorry Wal-Mart, you lost me when you prioritized price over quality. I can't afford you because I cannot be bothered to buy my stuff twice. I'd rather go somewhere else and buy a quality product in the first place so I don't have to go looking for a replacement. I see you have not changed your ways.

Re:who cares?

[ShanghaiBill]

If I buy a T-Shirt made in a sweatshop using child labor ...

China has strict child labor laws. The only evidence that child labor is used in export factories was a series of photos published in 2010 showing children chained to their work stations. They were soon exposed as a hoax.

Compared to OSHA, China has more lax workplace safety, but safety rules are more rigidly enforced in export factories, so buying "Made in China" is likely providing Chinese workers with safer and better jobs that they would otherwise have.