Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Hot on Facebook

Uproar After NC State Agent 'Fixes' Girl's Lunch Preschooler has to eat chicken nuggets instead of mom's meal »

Don't Blame China for Toy Recalls: Study

75% stem from design flaws, not manufacturing

By Nick McMaster, Newser Staff

Posted Nov 13, 2007 6:13 PM CST

(Newser) – Don't blame China for soaring toy recalls, a new Canuck study says; the problem is design. "If you are going to get into a finger-pointing game, you should point it mostly on the design side," said a Canadian prof. "It has got nothing to do with China." Recalls of toys made elsewhere actually spiked higher than Chinese-made products, the Globe & Mail reports.

China has the most recalls because they make most US-sold toys, the study says. Analyzing China's growth in the $71 billion US toy biz, researchers blamed 75% of recalls on design and only 10% on manufacturing. "The Chinese don't produce, on a proportionate basis, less-safe toys than anybody else," said one researcher. This summer, Mattel recalled more than 21 million toys and originally blamed China.

Mike Listerman, a retail clerk at Tom's Toys, a neighborhood toy store, posts safety recall bulletins to alert parents about toxic toys from lead paint or tiny magnets that could be swallowed, in Montrose,... (Associated Press)

Thomas A. Debrowski, Mattel's executive vice president for worldwide operations, left, meets with Chinese product safety chief Li Changjiang during his visit to the General Administration of Quality Supervision,... (Associated Press)

A Barbie Doll and Tanner play set from Mattel is displayed in this Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2007 file photo at a Target store in Brooklyn, N.Y. As the 2007 holiday season draws near, parents may understandably... (Associated Press)

A Chinese girl looks at the Barbie dolls on display for sale inside a department store in Beijing in this Aug. 28, 2007 file photo. U.S. toy giant Mattel issued an extraordinary apology to China on Friday,... (Associated Press)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

More Newser Stories

Asia Snapping Up Our High-Tech Jobs, Too

Cost advantage isn't the only reason Asia is gaining on US

(NEWSER) - Asia isn't just snapping up low-wage unskilled manufacturing jobs from the US; thanks to rapidly expanding engineering and research capabilities, the continent, and particularly China, have been able to lure away America's high-tech manufacturing jobs, too, according to a new report from the National Science Board. In the last decade the US lost 687,000 of these high-tech jobs—a sizable 28%, the Washington Post reports. More»

Suicide-Plagued Foxconn to Swap People for Robots

In 3 years, it could use as many as 1M robots

(NEWSER) - Foxconn, the suicide-plagued maker of millions of Apple products in China, plans to use as many as one million robots on its assembly line within three years—compared to just 10,000 today, a Chinese report says. Increasing labor costs is a major driver behind the move, reports Reuters . "This year's wage increase has been quite significant and I don't expect the pace to slow down next year," says an analyst. "If they don't do this, they will have to move their factories elsewhere." More»

Electric Cars Aren't Going to Save Us

Walter Russell Mead: Let China take the lead on this

(NEWSER) - Walter Russell Mead has some interesting advice for those (and he's looking at you, Thomas Friedman ) who think the US is making a horrible mistake by falling behind China in the development of electric cars: Ignore the problem. That's right, let China do the heavy lifting (and spending) on this, and when its engineers perfect the electric auto, we can just piggy-back off them, he writes in the American Interest . More»

Hypocrisy Keeps Other Firms From Doing as Google Did

They choose to work in a country that undervalues human rights

(NEWSER) - Why is Google alone in its stand against China? "Bald hypocrisy," argues Richard Cohen in the Washington Post . America wanted to believe the Internet would change China. Bill Clinton, no fool, once said that China's attempt to censor the Web was as fruitless as nailing Jell-O to the wall. Well, writes Cohen, "the Jell-O's on the wall." China censors with impunity, yet only Google walks away . More»

Asian Billionaires Storm Forbes Richest List

China adds remarkable share of world's newly minted billionaires

(NEWSER) - Asian magnates are the huge scorers in the annual Forbes list of the world’s billionaires, with 234 making the cut this year, compared to 130 last year. That's 23% of the 1,011 people worldwide on the list, up from 16%. And Asia is minting new billionaires like mad: Last year, just 7 of 38 newcomers to the list were from Asia. This year, it’s 62 of 97. The combined wealth of the Asians on the list more than doubled over last year, while the Europeans' rose 50% and the Americans' 18%. More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

Don't Blame China for Toy Recalls: Study

75% stem from design flaws, not manufacturing

OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

China • business • Mattel • manufacturing • toy recalls

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

[ By Comments ]

More Newser Stories

Asia Snapping Up Our High-Tech Jobs, Too

Cost advantage isn't the only reason Asia is gaining on US

Suicide-Plagued Foxconn to Swap People for Robots

In 3 years, it could use as many as 1M robots

Electric Cars Aren't Going to Save Us

Walter Russell Mead: Let China take the lead on this

Hypocrisy Keeps Other Firms From Doing as Google Did

They choose to work in a country that undervalues human rights

Asian Billionaires Storm Forbes Richest List

China adds remarkable share of world's newly minted billionaires

About Us

Site

Newser By Users

Community

Site Maps

Tools

More News

What is Newser?

Don't Blame China for Toy Recalls: Study

75% stem from design flaws, not manufacturing

Bookmark & Share

OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

China • business • Mattel • manufacturing • toy recalls

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

[ By Comments ]

More Newser Stories

Asia Snapping Up Our High-Tech Jobs, Too

Cost advantage isn't the only reason Asia is gaining on US

Suicide-Plagued Foxconn to Swap People for Robots

In 3 years, it could use as many as 1M robots

Electric Cars Aren't Going to Save Us

Walter Russell Mead: Let China take the lead on this

Hypocrisy Keeps Other Firms From Doing as Google Did

They choose to work in a country that undervalues human rights

Asian Billionaires Storm Forbes Richest List

China adds remarkable share of world's newly minted billionaires

About Us

Site

Newser By Users

Community

Site Maps

Tools

More News

What is Newser?