Duracell - Made in China

[Woussko]

While I have seen a good many Energizer, Eveready and Rayovac batteries and cells from China, I hadn't seen any from Duracell. Well, that all has changed and here are pictures showing that they are making AA MN1500 cells over in China. What's wild is that Proctor & Gamble is the importing agent. What next? Anyway, I guess anymore that about everything we buy will be from China either in whole or in part. That is except for living things or things we make here ourselves. I'm going to be looking carefully at packaging for Duracell-Procell which is their professional line. My bet is they are still made in North America and will say so. I'll check the products as well soon.

[billmoy]

Our current administration is the first to wage a war without increasing taxes.

They are funding the war by selling U. S. Treasury bonds to China and expediting importation of their manufactured goods.

I think that we should all sign up for courses in Mandarin Chinese looking for the day that they call the debts due and payable.

[JimDon]

Just keep your passport updated. When that happens it will be time to move to Canada, Norway, Sweden, or Denmark. Enough of this BS turning this country into a dumping ground for a lot of worthless c---. Chinese are right now waging war on us -- monetarily. They'll take us down without firing a shot! Too Bad. Great country sold out and gone to the dogs by a bunch of Neo Cons and economic profiteers.
Jim Don

[reConx]

Our current administration is the first to wage a war without increasing taxes.

They are funding the war by selling U. S. Treasury bonds to China and expediting importation of their manufactured goods.

I think that we should all sign up for courses in Mandarin Chinese looking for the day that they call the debts due and payable.

FYI: Not to change the topic but I was a bit shocked to discover that the radiator and thermostat I was replacing in my car was made in China (not that they couldn't). I shopped at NAPA for quality parts and was just expecting USA. The recycled card board packaging (typical for imports) was my first clue but I really don't know how it got here in one piece because the box was not sturdy enough to protect a radiator let alone a sandwich.
++Got my Mandarin for Dummies book and my Universal Translator device in the mail yesterday

[Woussko]

Now I really think it would have been better to not howl and start this thread.

The Chinese are the world leader of fireworks making. That's one thing where we USA guys just can't touch them. Oh if we tried hard enough I bet we could do it but then why bother.

[Woussko]

Update: I ran some side by side test of the Chinese made Duracell MN1500 size AA cells and USA made Duracell Procell PC1500 size AA cells. Both did very well under heavy load testing. There was only about a 3% run time difference and that may be due to things such as date of manufacture and storage conditions. What matters is that both samples did well. Sometime I'll run more tests where I compare Duracell size AA cells with those from Energizer and Rayovac. These are for standard alkaline type cells and not anything special or exotic. The Procell brand is the industrial/commercial line by Duracell.

As for being made in China I've seen this more and more for all brands and types of products so I best get used to it and hush up. No more howling about this.

[CWSmith]

The really unfortunate part of all this, is that we get a bunch of Chinese haters who will howl long and hard that the Chinese "are at war with us" in one form or another. Lot's of whining and complaining about the Chinese, like it is all their fault.

Unfortunately we don't see and don't want to blame the government... OUR government and it's support for the greed of a corporate America that is all too happy to sell out our jobs, for the larger profits that can be made by manufacturing in China. No health insurance problems there, no wage restrictions, no environmental responsibility (yet), and absolutely no conscience or social responsibility whatsoever to either the American worker or the Chinese worker.

And we, on the other hand, simply prefer to believe that it's China's fault! So while there appears to be a hearty lot who believes in the Iraq war and the superiority of the Republican party, we have failed to see that our indebtedness to China is overwhelming.

In these past seven years we've borrowed from the China through the World Bank to pay for the war and to support our rapidly declining economy. Much of the price at the pump that we have to pay is subject to the falling dollar's value in the world market. Yet we believe that the Republican party who is so supportive of Corporate America, is our friend. "What's good of America's business, is good for America's workers!" is no longer true and it hasn't been true for the past two or three decades. The drive of most of our corporations is to fatten the bottom line and they're very happy to do so by sacrificing the American worker. Even more so, if we believe that it is China's fault.

So today, our jobs are going to China at an increasing rate and today's "robber barons" are loving it, because all we can see to blame is anyone with a Chinese face.

CWS

[Bob D.]

""...What's good of America's business, is good for America's workers!" is no longer true..."

I don't think that was EVER true.

[stxrus]

Yet we believe that the Republican party who is so supportive of Corporate America, is our friend.

Corporate America is NOT the small business owner/worker. Reaganomics almost killed my small electronics business and the w years have damn near (if not already) killed American Small Business.

the legacy of w could have been a great leader not the self centerd egotistical cowboy he really is.

is there NOT ONE politico willilg to stand tall and make the sacrifices needed to turn us around? i sure don't see it

steve

[JimDon]

CWS,
I didn't just blame the Chinese, take another gander at the post : "Great country sold out and gone to the dogs by a bunch of Neo Cons and economic profiteers."
I spread my disdain to include those who opened the door for the Chinese c--- in the first place.
Cheers,
Jim

[DUNBAR]

The current quality of batteries from 8 years ago is truly significant. That's why you see those large packs at HD and Lowe's for cheap cheap.

It's because they know you'll be back to buy more.


My camera I believe eats batteries, not uses them.


To graze the political point of view on this matter with a sawed off shotgun,


"Made in China" is 3 words we've seen for years. The cheap labor capital of the world. Nothing done here in the states on an hourly is less than let's say,

$6/hour?

How can you literally compete with labor wages under $2/hour in that scenario? You can't.

I bet before this thread gets a couple years old and depending on who ends up in office this next four, we might see another minimum wage increase which will be the compliment for the working poor who can't afford what high fuel prices created. I'm rambling, time to end this :speechless:

[JCsPlumbing]

I said it before but got strongly disagreed with by some that every country or society has to make something. You have to have a "whole economy" from poor to rich with the middle being the majority. Some stated that we shouldn't have manufacturing and concentrate on the tech or "brainy" jobs. Two problems I see with that is other countries can now do those also for less and it is the smallest segment of an economy.

And as I asked before to those that stated they'd rather have 50 cent/hr. workers do the monotonous manufacturing:

Do you really think the U.S. would be better off manufacturing nothing?

J.C.

[tinmack]

Grab the Energizer lithium batteries on eBay at a wicked price, then get some of those battery adapters so that you can turn those AA's into C's and D's.

I don't know or care where they are made, what I care about is that they have a shelf life of over 10 years and they are made to withstand extreme fluctuations in temperature.

They are the best non-rechargable-type battery I have used. Too bad they only make them in AAA and AA. Then again, get the battery adapters for bigger sizes. Of course, a 9 volt would be great for the smoke detectors.....

[FINER9998]

while the economically motivated frustration is understandable, and i surely believe W wouldn't know an introductory economics class from a beer mug, let us not forget that domestic workers here are highly paid relative to the rest of the world. and there isn't a fortune 500 CEO worth his salt who wouldn't do whatever he had to do for another $1.00/share in earnings. and that's not greed, that's his job. please try to remember this is a capitalist system, not a charity. the first step in affecting any system, or economy, is to understand what makes it tick. then, and only then, can fiscal policies be implemented to exploit the weaknesses of competing systems/economies while capitalizing on the strengths of the host participants.

[JCsPlumbing]

while the economically motivated frustration is understandable, and i surely believe W wouldn't know an introductory economics class from a beer mug, let us not forget that domestic workers here are highly paid relative to the rest of the world. and there isn't a fortune 500 CEO worth his salt who wouldn't do whatever he had to do for another $1.00/share in earnings. and that's not greed, that's his job. please try to remember this is a capitalist system, not a charity. the first step in affecting any system, or economy, is to understand what makes it tick. then, and only then, can fiscal policies be implemented to exploit the weaknesses of competing systems/economies while capitalizing on the strengths of the host participants.

Agree mostly. But 2 questions.

Do you feel domestic workers' pay have the buying power as much as the lower paid foreign workers in their country?

And don't you think that the U.S. HAS to manufacture SOMETHNG?

J.C.

[Woussko]

Grab the Energizer lithium batteries on eBay at a wicked price, then get some of those battery adapters so that you can turn those AA's into C's and D's.

I don't know or care where they are made, what I care about is that they have a shelf life of over 10 years and they are made to withstand extreme fluctuations in temperature.

They are the best non-rechargable-type battery I have used. Too bad they only make them in AAA and AA. Then again, get the battery adapters for bigger sizes. Of course, a 9 volt would be great for the smoke detectors.....

For what this may be worth, take a look at the industrial side of Energizer. Your dream battery for smoke detectors and other electronics is out there waiting for you to come and get it. The ENERGIZER #L522FP ... Please see picture.

[CWSmith]

JimDon,

Please don't take my writing as being directed at you personally, is wasn't. I understand your post and certainly the frustration that we all feel when we do our shopping and find almost everything "Made in China". Personally, I should probably have as much grievance as anyone, because my job is long gone and the factory that my work supported has gone from employing over 3,000 to less than 600!

But I don't blame anyone except the management and our government which paved the way and PAYED the way. I've met and worked with engineers in India and China and Australia and Singapore and the one thing they all seem to echo, is that one of their biggest challenges was that in their part of the world, industry wanted "Made in the U.S.A" because of it's reliability and performance. But in spite of that, our management, with government assistance, transferred our major product lines to India and China... just like so many other American companies.

But I also understand that neither India or China convinced, chided, persuaded, or made any kind of move to steal the business. On the contrary, we did everything necessary to set up operations there, including transferring technogy and bringing some of their people here for training. (The sun had hardly set on the Tiananmen Square massacre when we started "investigating" business opportunities under the GHW Bush's administration. But it took G.W.'s administration to finally make the effort profitable.)

Likewise, the biggest industry in our area opened several plants around the U.S. during the big dot-com boom. Often taking tax incentives from the various communities that they intended to build in. Many times these communities opted for bond issues in order bring their infrastructure up to meeting the demands of this new industry. But when the "dot.coms" crashed, that industry giant simply closed those facilities and walked away, leaving the communities holding the bag, so to speak.

Well, one might think that a lot of industries were hurt and many didn't recover, but this particular giant has since invested $Billions in China and turned it's back on all those U.S. communities that once held the company in promise. Such are the workings of our government in the last eight years.

So, let's not think that China has attacked and invaded our industries and that our government or "a bunch of Neo Cons and economic profiteers" have allowed them to do so. In reality, it is our industry and government who has propositioned them. So I can't find fault with a country who is trying to industrialize itself and bring its people into prosperity. Too bad our country doesn't feel the same way about itself and it's citizens.

CWS

[Tom W]

Away from the economics for a question: Does anyone know why there are no 'B" batteries? Are they out there and only available as an industrial, or other, application?

[FINER9998]

JC...while i would like to agree that any economic entity, and our country is an economic entity, should seek to completely control its economic destiny, being an admirer of Adam Smith, i want to rely on "the market" to reward effective producers and punish inefficient producers. since the U.S.'s wage base is so much higher than other markets around the world, domestic resources should be allocated to higher value added activities. expanded innovation should relegate nuts and bolts component manufacturing to the lowest cost producers, assuming cosistent quality. this does not apply to production related to products associated with domestic security (it is, after all and unfortunately, a political world).

regarding relative market buying power of production units (i.e., workers), i don't have any statistics on this issue. my gut tells me that non domestic(offshore) workers would be enjoying a better relative wage and standard of living. to the extent an economy is based on easily exported tasks or relatively unskilled labor, the world economy will winnow those producers out of existence.

to end this pontification, the domestic economy better learn to innovate in a value added way or it will be in serious trouble. attempting to legistlate ourselves into economic relevance is a waste of time and resources.

[BHD]

Now I really think it would have been better to not howl and start this thread.

The Chinese are the world leader of fireworks making. That's one thing where we USA guys just can't touch them. Oh if we tried hard enough I bet we could do it but then why bother.

By the time OSHA and the EPA and IRS and ever other regulatory agency would get involved I doubt if they could make anything, that was competitive or usable. with out the cost being prohibitive.

Heck most of you guys pay tax jsut to work, that is all a licence is any way, is another Tax,
you pay tax to do a job, called a permit is a TAX,
you pay a inspector to look at the job your licence says you are qualified and knowledgeable on how to do properly, another TAX.
you pay a TAX on your truck, on its licence TAX,
you probly pay property TAX,
you probably pay a Inventory TAX,
a owner ship tax on your Equipment, TAX.
and then you pay sales TAX,
and income TAX
workmans comp TAX
SS TAX
fuel TAX
You many even have to pay tolls another TAX,
and most by unfunded mandates you have to carry INSURANCE and in some cases being BONDED,

I wander if the job is not 50% plus, in TAX, and then you have GOVERNMENTAL rules that tell you how to do some thing, (I still remember plumber cracks story on digging a trench they have the regulations padded where it takes 4 people) to do a one person $600 job, in our area. end result a 10 fold increases in cost. You can argue CODES all day long but it is simple to see there is a lot of differences on what different places require and how they are in forced, one place allows one thing or method and the other does not, different joints allowed here and not there, arguments on nearly ever aspect of the trades, (how many are really public safety, how many are labor producers, when new and easier materials are now available, how many are materials sellers, how many are politics and Union based).
which in many instances RAISE the COST of how a JOB is done,

I wonder why companies pull up and move to some place where they have some leeway on how to do things and not taxed and revenued and regulated to death.

When the GOVERNMENT IS TAKING 50% plus of your work and putting in or accepting regulations that raise the cost to the consumer (and most of the time in disguises of public safety), If they REGULATE and Control YOU they make money off of you it is that simple, the more control the more they make. (yes there is some public safety woven into the regulations other wise the ploy would not work, no I am not saying all regulations are bad but not all are needed, common sense goes a long way),

[tinmack]

For what this may be worth, take a look at the industrial side of Energizer. Your dream battery for smoke detectors and other electronics is out there waiting for you to come and get it. The ENERGIZER #L522FP ... Please see picture.


Thanks for the heads up Woussko - I appreciate it very much!!http://www.ridgidforum.com/forum/images/icons/icon14.gif

[Woussko]

For anyone wanting the 9 Volt Lithium cell Energizer battery, if you have a hard time finding it, I see that Allied Electronics has it on their web site. It's not cheap. Also it's not currently a stock item. That would mean you have to call them up and ask if it can be ordered in. I'll keep looking for other places as I'm sure there's stock of it somewhere.

https://www.alliedelec.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx?SKU=7296050&DESC=&SEARCH=&MPN= (Not currently in stock)

Newark Electronics - No longer stocked ... GRRRRR

There is another popular brand called "UltraLife" that's had out 9 Volt Lithium cell batteries for some time. If you can't find the Energizer you might look for them. If memory is correct I think maybe Radio Shack had them. There is a problem with shipping Lithium batteries where FedEx, UPS and USPS claim they are dangerous and sometimes explode. I wonder about that as long as they aren't shorted out or in a very hot location.