Free trade is not everything its cracked up to be. Evergreen Solar emerged in the last three years as the third-largest maker of solar panels in the United States. In setting up in 2008, it was aided by at least $43 million in assistance from the government of Massachusetts. The New York Times reports-
But now the company is closing its main American factory, laying off the 800 workers by the end of March and shifting production to a joint venture with a Chinese company in central China.
The company cited a greater level of Chinese government assistance as a key factor in the decision to move. The Chinese government does indeed offer various incentives to environmentally accented manufacturing. American trade officials are concerned that these subsidies, when applied to export items, violate free trade agreements. Of course they do.
Lets look though at the broader picture. While Western companies struggle to operate in a climate of ever increasing red tape, health and safety compliance and environmental pre-conditions, and are forced to pay high prices for components and raw materials and electricity and fuel, (as a result of fraudulent climate change taxes) the Chinese manufacturers flourish in a virtually non-regulated environment with low wages for employees, cheap fuel and electricity, and massive government assistance. They can sell solar panels for example, for about half the price of Evergreen and still make a good profit.
At the root of the West’s manufacturing and production decline is one poisonous word- COMPLIANCE. There are probably more people employed in the compliance industry now than there are actually producing something.
As I have said in a previous post the west is cutting its own legs off while trying to win a running race.
Worse, here we have the American taxpayer forking out $43 million to a firm to develop its product, and once it is developed, in only three short years, that firm shoots through to China. Where is the taxpayer’s return on their $43 million? China gains the technology. America loses it. China gains employment. America loses it. American companies cannot sell their product because the Chinese product is 50% cheaper. China gains sales revenue. America loses it. America tries to sell its product according to free trade agreements, but the agreements are undercut by Chinese chicanery. So the agreements are worthless. In fact only serving to further worsen the US’s position.
Commercial suicide. But the Western leaders apparently have very few problems with the whole situation. What are they? Completely clueless? Blind Freddie could see there’s only one eventual outcome to this scenario and its the bankruptcy of the US and probably most of the West, and correspondingly, the global economic dominance of Communist China.
There are two forces at play here. The political groups who purposefully seek the demise of the west are sabotaging its industrial capacity. The politicians who should be aware of what is happening, and seeing the big picture, and reacting in ways that turn things to America and the West’s advantage, are apparently stricken with mental and physical paralysis. We must not only compete with China, we must defeat China. Yet our politicians whistle while the West burns.
In the end this is all down to mixing business with Government. We are too deeply enmeshed right now, but the idea that politicians and bureaucrats should seek trade deals and negotiate trade agreements and pick winners and subsidise certain industries with taxpayer money is bullshit. Its a scenario just rife with opportunities for corruption and gangsterism. If we ever recover from our present parlous position, we should in future leave it entirely to business people. Keep the politicians out of it, and then the concept of free trade might become workable. Right now, its a deceit ridden corrupt and cronyist farce that is killing the West.
Oh, and we need to get rid of the compliance industry too. Like yesterday.
TrueblueNZ 
12 responses to “Free Trade Fraud- US Solar Panel Maker Evergreen Moves To China”
You have summed up our predicament.
What is really frightening is the mass of National supporters who think that the stealing, lying and cheating prick John Key is doing a ‘great job’.
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Good Post Redbaiter, if only that moron at Kiwiblog Kimble would read it.
The Chinese now have implemented an export tax on foreign good sold to China. We have also heard rumours that if you do even manage to get a competitive offer in front of the commies, a local Chinese company can drop their price and the difference is funded by the Government. Free trade my arse. The west needs to stop giving away IP capital, they are going to pay the price in the future.
As for compliance, the reason that has become so prevalent is that the shit the Chinese have peddled and exported over the years has made many companies nervous, particulary those who sell products that support a critical duty in a process. In the past a certain level of quality was just expected when dealing with Western companies, now the Chinese and Indians are on the so called Global market, every single item in a product needs 500 pages of specification to stop the commies taking short cuts.
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“In the past a certain level of quality was just expected when dealing with Western companies.”
Yes, and that quality was their trademark and what made people buy products from them. Why can’t this system work today? Why can’t companies just build a good product, and be known for building good products, and build their business on this simple axiom?
Let people who want to deal with junk companies do so. There is always going to be a market for quality.
This quality existed once without the compliance industry. Now we have millions of people employed in that sector, yet its almost impossible to buy quality anywhere.
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“Why can’t this system work today?” Because a decade under the totalitarian boot of the lesbian destroyed New Zealand industry. And because the sheeple would rather buy a cheap, shitty chinese knock-off for $3.99 from a big red shed.
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[…] posted here: Free Trade Fraud- US Solar Panel Maker Evergreen Moves To China … Posted in Solar Panels | Tags: evergreen-solar, from-the-government, government, solar, Solar […]
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Free Trade when Government Subsidies (tax payer dollars) is an oxymoron. As the concept of Free Trade fails and bankrupts western economies, the socialists, who created the problem with so much government intervention in the first place, move in and promise more government will solve the problem of “free market” failure.
We shouldn’t be calling it Free Trade when it isn’t. Again, the left control the narrative and redefine the meanings of words until people believe Climate Change (the temperature changing brings variable weather) equals “Man-Made Global Warming” (we will no longer see snow, and the world will be in drought and it is 100% the fault of man) .
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Yes, you’re perfectly right Zen. You have nut shelled it. Of course it is not “free trade”. It is a fraudulent socialist/communist construct that is passed off as free trade.
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An America Lost in Squanderville
The United States’ trade gap is the proverbial “leak-in the-dike” with its de-simulative effect on our recovery. In November 2003, Warren Buffett in his Fortune, Squanderville versus Thriftville article recommended that America adopt a balanced trade model. The fact that advice advocating balance and sustainability, from a sage the caliber of Warren Buffett, could be virtually ignored for over seven years is unfathomable. Media coverage that China has kept it currency undervalued is a gross understatement, it has actually been keeping the U.S. dollar over-valued; which adversely affects all our trade with all our trading partners, not just trade with China. Until action is taken on Buffett’s or a similar balanced trade model, by the powers that be, America will continue to squander time, treasure and talent in pursuit of an illusionary recovery.
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Spot on again Red.
When the free trade agreement was signed with China I commented on KB that it was a big mistake.I was slammed for that opinion.
On compliance totally agree. Zippity new graduates as council staff are a pain in the butt.
They visit with their adorned neck and try and tell me about things I have been dealing with for years.(and then charge a fee of course)
All BS.
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Compliance.
Where to start- In the local water industry there are more council, regional council,DOL and health board toadies ‘overseeing’ water treatment than there are actually working on it.
Their technical knowledge would fit into a matchbox- without removing any matches.
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It’s ironic that all these capitalists are moving out of America, “the land of liberty, democracy and capitalism” to police state China. I guess capitalists’ values are for sale, too.
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FTA – Favoured Trade Agreement.
That is closer to the truth of the matter.
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