While reluctant to lower those barriers, the Chinese want to insure that other countries - including the United States - cannot discriminate against Chinese-made goods.

But it seems like there are a lot of American consumers enjoying Chinese-made goods.

Overall, the United States bought $82 billion worth of Chinese-made goods last year, $69 billion more than the value of what it sold to China.

If there is a big group of Americans who refuse to buy Chinese-made goods for political reasons, they probably are not Wal-Mart shoppers.

The Japanese have long prided themselves on quality production, relegating Chinese-made goods to discount shops.

He added that he would probably avoid purchasing Chinese-made goods from the Kmart behind him - but not because of this month's dispute.

But his ship can only carry Chinese-made goods for reshipment onward; none can be imported into Taiwan.

Perhaps consumers should consider where their dollars go when they buy Chinese-made goods, and if concerned, should start voting with their wallets and purses.

Most currency traders think such a move would quickly cause the yuan to rise in value against the dollar, increasing the dollar cost of Chinese-made goods.

New data showed that China's manufacturing output has contracted for the first time in nearly three years, due to lower global demand for Chinese-made goods.