I suppose it’s possible that this will turn out to be a hoax, but nobody should be surprised if it’s genuine.
A Portland, Oregon, woman named Julie Keith opened a box of made-in-China Halloween decorations purchased at a local Kmart to find this plea:
Despite a US law that prohibits the importation of all items “mined, produced or manufactured” in any foreign country by convict labor, forced labor and/or indentured labor, there is enough evidence of violations to make this letter credible.
Julie Keith now checks the label of everything she buys, down to the Gingerbread house she purchased for the holidays. Her friends, she said, do the same.
“If I really don’t need it, I won’t buy it if it’s made in China,” she said. “This has really made me more aware. I hope it would make a difference.”
If only it were easier. I do, at least, try to buy non-Chinese made clothing: American-made (and union-made) if possible.
Better still would be if the US and other importers of Chinese products took strong and serious measures to protect against prison-made goods.
