Don't wait for government

Re: Just replace China

We don't need to wait for the government to mandate any kind of move away from China. All we have to do is decide ourselves that:

A) if we are consumers, we try to identify where our goods are coming from and shift our buying from "made in China" or "shipped from China" to other locals around the world or even here at home. We've had well over a decade learning to shift our buying power to fair trade and ethically-sourced goods and services. Now let's apply that knowledge to "made/shipped" in China.

B) If we run drop-ship businesses or businesses that require parts or manufacturing, shift our sourcing elsewhere.

Why wait for the government to divest when we can divest on our own? We won't always have the choice in where the things we need come from or get manufactured, but wherever we do have that choice, we should exercise it. One example where you can make that choice is eBay. You will see listings with "shipped from China" or "shipped from Sri Lanka" or "shipped from the US". If you shop on eBay, be sure to choose "ship from" goods that don't ship from China.

On Etsy, you'll be told where something is shipping from as well. You aren't always told on Amazon or Walmart's online shopping site. Walking into stores downtown you can flip over the item on the shelf to read the "made in" line, usually not far from the "prepared for/made for/sourced by" paragraph. If you don't see such info anywhere on the label, and the staff don't know where the stuff originates from, it may be time to choose a different store, on or offline.

We long since learned that we can tell Hollywood what we do and don't like at the box office. We can do that now with our buying power in stores. Where government won't use sledge hammers, hit 'em with 1,000 bee stings.

Marilynn Dawson