Today’s code: German (or Swedish, Swiss, etc.) Engineering

Translation: Made in China, with some stage of the design done in Germany (or other European country).

Aliases: “Made in Germany (or Italy, Sweden, Canada, United States, etc.)”. Usually this means that most of the parts or even the whole thing was actually made in China but some element of the final assembly, packaging, or labeling was done in the country-of-label. Recent media exposés for example, have shown that most frozen, packaged seafood labeled “Made in Canada” actually comes from China, Vietnam, or Thailand, but because the final “transformation” i.e. the packaging and handling was done in Canada, up to a certain percentage of the total value of theproduct, this qualifies for the Canadian origin label. While Canada has some regulations around this Canadian content, other countries are not necessarily as demanding. Italy for example is notorious for clothing that is made in China but because the buttons are sewn on in Italy, it qualifies for the Made in Italy label.  Volkswagen routinely promotes its cars as the product of “German engineering” although those for the export markets are almost universally made in Brazil, Mexico, or other developing nation.

Problem: Some developing nations make some pretty good products and there’s nothing necessarily wrong with buying things made there. The problem is in the intended deception that treats customers like ignorant fools who can be misdirected by clever wording. Hmmm….maybe they’re right, you say…we are for the most part pretty gullible in lapping up all the marketing crap companies throw at us. I for one would like to really know where the stuff I buy is made so I can make an informed decision.