Coming from the West, one thing that was pretty common to see on just about anything was “Made in China” (PRC, not ROC). Things which would almost invariably be made in China, in the West, would be:
Low value items - like tools, household items
Consumer goods - appliances, electronics
Raw materials
Here in Taiwan, I see the opposite - many labels say “Made in Taiwan”. Prices of local items seem to be competitive with an equivalent item imported from China, once you factor in the shipping costs.
To what extent are the items that are labelled Made in Taiwan, really made in Taiwan? Or are they mostly made in China, and assembled here?
If Taiwan really has achieved a strong degree of independence when it comes to manufacturing and meeting local demand, how has it been able to do so cheaply (given the cost of living in Taiwan is relatively low - so it isn’t just a question of very high import tariffs) when Western countries have become quite reliant on the PRC for a lot of their consumer products?
The products at my company are made in Taiwan for the most part, but PCB components, like CPUs etc… may be made in another country.
The People’s Republic of China also subsidises its shipping costs. But many of the parts that say made in Taiwan are really made in Taiwan. It can’t be 100% though, raw materials etc…
Costs are also lower because much of the manufacturing is made by migrant workers, exempt from the minimum wage laws.
It’s competitive because it’s still within the nation. Taiwan though, does send its products all over the world, but certainly cannot reach the level of scale due to its size and when I look, many products I find in Canada are made in Taiwan. My favourite screwdriver set is made in Taiwan, despite the fact that I didn’t buy it because it was made in Taiwan. Even the screws I find at Home Hardware are made in Taiwan. As an example of something mundane. Made in Taiwan exists. It’s just dwarfed by Made in China. Doesn’t mean Taiwan doesn’t punch above its weight class though.
This isn’t the whole story, just my experience and extent of my knowledge.
totally. when people look look, the story that everything .is made in china becomes flawed pretty quick.
probably over simplifying things, but perhaps one.reason.taiwan.can.do such things is because the government also runs as a corporation in a sense. they arent reliant totally on taxation, but also run companies to earn money. they also subsidize the hell out of certain things (as do most wealthy countries) to give them an export edge. I would say the export market and the domestic market are night and day in terms of service and related professionalism. in raw materials we still seem rather lame, but for highly processed products like tech, textiles, chemicals and etc Taiwan is fairly decent. Why? in my.opinion it has a lot to do with the basically no fucks given about environment and health.
to be honest, I view the lack of effort on longevity, safety and health, in general, akin to a cheat code in a video game. works short term (financially), but eventually no one plays anymore.
When I moved to China and they told me Taiwan was part of Canada, I told them that was news to me because we bought things that said made in Taiwan and things that said made in China! An interesting argument to being to the “Taiwan is a country” debate, from a canadian perspective
And as mentioned above, migrant workers from places like the Philippines. For a variety of political, historical, and cultural reasons they can make more money here than back home and are willing to endure conditions that keep costs low and productivity high
I recently got a gift from the Household Registration Office for passing the naturalisation test. The gift was made in China. (Also there was nothing Taiwanesque about it)
The migrant worker thing is no joke. but I suppose I often come from the mindset that Taiwanese are often treated the same.way, until very recently. different type of oppression, but the end results are not so different. Not saying it is the exact same today, it has improved. but taiwans wealth is built on the backs of locals just as much as migrants in my opinion. and with the sacrifice if health and environment that even the rich cant escape, by proxy (the environment is the environment).
