BUT I also remember when another Asian country's products that were also considered cheese, and now their products have BANKRUPTED our steel mills AND our auto manufacturers.
I was just gonna say the same thing about Japan, but ya beat me to it! I remember back in the late '60's, early '70's, any tool you bought from there was cheap. But they'd either bend, or snap. Absolute junk! Most anything else from there, was the same. Cheap to buy, but really, shoulda been left in the store. Their cars were the same way.
Look at them now........and at how much of the marketplace they have.
Let me throw another one out there. Hyundai. Remember the days of the Pony? Cheap, cheap, cheap. But try to find one still running 10 years later. Complete poo-poo!! Now, as a company, they are built much better. I'm not saying they are great cars now, but much, MUCH improved.
Just wait, the way trends are going, China is gonna sneak up on us like the others. It doesn't really surprise me why the 'big three' had their problems. Not blaming them, per-say, but look at the competition out there now, and the share of the marketplace they've lost. And it's not just in the automotive sector, but everywhere.
I believe we are headed down a very slippery slope, the way trends have been going over the last 30-40 years, and it makes me quite uncomfortable. Having said that, guess my grandfather said the same things, when he was my age.