By IANS
New York : A majority of Americans are more likely to buy Indian products than Chinese ones, according to a recent survey by Fortune magazine.
After major recalls of products sourced from China by some US companies, including toy maker Mattel, due to high lead content, nearly 57 percent of Americans said they were “less likely to buy a product if it is made in China”.
In comparison, as many as 52 percent of the respondents said such an incident would not affect their buying decision if the product was made in India.
In the survey conducted by the US business magazine, only 37 percent of Americans said they were “less likely” to purchase a made-in-India product while 11 percent said they were “more likely” to buy such goods.
For Chinese products, 11 percent people said they were “more likely” to buy these products, while 30 percent said it was immaterial whether goods were imported from China.
Fortune’s survey report said: “Where a product is manufactured does not impact Americans’ purchasing decisions except when that product is made in China.
“Nearly 57 percent Americans are less likely to buy a product if it is made in China. When products are manufactured in other areas, such as Eastern Europe (57 percent), Western Europe (55 percent), Canada (53 percent), India (52 percent), Africa (51 percent), Mexico (48 percent), Japan (47 percent) and South Korea (46 percent), nearly a majority say it does not matter.”
While recalls of Chinese products have made headlines, there has been a minor incident of the recent recall of an India-made product as well. Illinois-based Raja Foods recalled packages of Swad brand of vermilion, sourced from India, after Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found high lead content in it.
The Fortune survey also found economy to be the top issue facing Americans today, with 87 percent saying it was “very” or “extremely” important to them.
Further, two-thirds of Americans believe the economic conditions in their country are getting worse. On outsourcing, 79 percent said the US government has not done enough to help workers who have lost their jobs to increased foreign competition.
The survey was conducted among 1,000 adults throughout the US between Jan 14 to 16.