I agree, companies that make knock off copies of things (even faking the branding) suck and damage people and their livelihoods. Counterfeit and copyright infringement is theft. I don’t think any of the Chinese carb and chain folks have stolen anything. if making a half price brake cover for a 30 year old saw damages Stihl, they sure haven’t let on.
Some however find a niche for a certain category of goods and offer another option for consumers. America is hopelessly addicted to cheap products. $2 wastebaskets and $199 60” televisions. The companies that make this stuff are filling the demand. There is a chance that at least some of the tech in a television is pirated but honestly a TV is a TV on the lower end.
Some Chinese products are world class. It depends, as with every company, with what the desired end result is to be. $2 wastebaskets that crack in a year are just the cost of cheap. iPhones are the standard for the world and are held to tough expectations. The customer sets the quality and pricepoint and the manufacturer attempts to meet it.
I believe painting every company with the same brush is short sighted. Chinese manufacturing might has been a result of American demand for low prices. I’m not saying it is a good thing or bad, it just is where we find ourselves.
Edited to add* When I was a kid, lots of people wouldn’t buy Japanese cars and derided people who did. “Buy American” even though late 70s American cars were absolute garbage. Many of those Japanese car companies went into depressed American towns and built plants that provided the only good paying jobs after other companies left. Those folks love their Toyotas and Hondas now.
