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The author reports that Chinese automakers, such as Bricklin, Geely and Chery, who were to enter the U.S. market by 2008 will probably not do so until the next decade. Analysts say the booming Chinese economy, exacting U.S. safety and emission standards and a customer base that is unforgiving when comes to shoddy quality are keeping the Chinese out of the U.S. market.

It is not easy to listen to someone from another country talk about quality problems with U.S. products. The U.S. Department of Agriculture had approved new industry-developed bale packaging specifications for U.S. cotton shipments. Not being at the ports where ships are unloading or in the bale opening rooms of foreign textile mills, it is difficult to judge whether the complaints made by Li Lin of the China Cotton Association at a World Cotton Quality Summit in Singapore are valid or not. Li said some of the cotton Chinese mills were forced to buy after last year's production shortfall was a grade lower than they anticipated, contained too many short fibers had high nep content.