In shopping for Christmas presents for my son and his “friends” (he’s 10 months old, he doesn’t really have friends!), I’ve discovered a few more companies that are either exclusively made somewhere other than China, or have some items manufactured elsewhere:
- Mega Blocks – exclusively made in Canada. Check the label! Although I have yet to find any of their products manufactured anywhere other than Canada, you can’t be too careful!
- Playmobil – made in Germany. Again, check the label. I’ve found some products that are made in countries of which I have never even heard, but so far, no China.
- Fisher Price has a few items that are made in Mexico. So far I’ve found their Stacker Rings, Shape Sorter Blocks and Bucket, Sit and Stand Giraffe, Counting Corn Popper, and Shape Sorter Wagon – all made in Mexico! I never thought I’d be so excited to find stuff made in Mexico!
- Step 2 – Check their website. We ordered their big Fire Engine for Two, which is made in the USA.
Good luck with your Christmas shopping!!
Why is Made in Mexico better than China? Labour and environmental standards are probably just as low in Mexico… If the only reason is that it’s not “China” I don’t find that convincing. Just because China is a powerful economy… is that the only reason we are avoiding products made there? In my mind China is kind of an example of the problems of our current global trade system, kind of like how Nike is an example of exploitative labour standards – but Adidas, Puma, Airwalk, etc., are all just as bad. The root problem is that we are too cheap to make our own products in our own towns/countries, and we are avoiding the fearful prospect of breaking a sweat by actually doing physical labour.