Should I trade furniture with China when I grow up?
Monday, January 25th, 2010 at
1:13 am
My grandfather owns a successful company that manufactures and imports furniture from China. The business has made hima millionaire (not that that means anything in this day and age). But this is my question: when I "grow up", should I learn this business and then continue it? Does the furniture trade with China have a promising future?
I always hear people talk about how we should reduce trade with China, so would a reduction of trade with China hurt the business (if it were to happen while I owned it)?
Filed under: Natural Gas Futures
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Things may have evolved more by the time you "grow up" but right now there are all sorts of trade-offs regarding whether it makes sense to make various products domestically or in some other nation.
If the product is heavy, then that impacts the cost of transporting across the ocean. That is an added cost. It is cheaper to have it made in China, but you have to have the added cost of inspecting what they do, to make sure that it meets the safety and other standards of here.
What is your protection against the company in China stealing all your designs and selling direct to your customers? You may know that piracy is a MAJOR problem with products that can be made or copied in Asia.
Who will buy the products made in China, when all the jobs that pay customers so they can buy the products, have been exported overseas?