Briefing

China’s Toxic Exports

Jacques deLisle

June 22, 2009 / Philadelphia

Jacques deLisle is Director of FPRI’s Asia Program and Professor of Law, University of Pennsylvania.

China's toxic exports-from lead-laden toys to melamine-tainted milk-based products to poison pet food to industrial chemical-laced toothpaste to counterfeit pharmaceuticals and beyond-have become an issue of global concern. Consumers around the world are worried about the risks they face when they use products, well beyond those labeled “made in China.” Reaction abroad imperils markets for China's exports and threatens harm to China's still-export-dependent economy, especially amid broader declines in demand triggered by the global economic crisis. What explains China's dangerous export problem? What can be, and is being, done about it? What are the prospects for success?

Audio

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