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May 26, 2012
US rage as Clinton opts for Swedish crystal
Published: 16 Mar 10 10:11 CET | Double click on a word to get a translation
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/25552/20100316/
Swedish glass maker Orrefors Kosta Boda has landed a $5.4 million contract to supply fine crystal stemware to US embassies worldwide.
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The items are to be embellished with the seal of the United States and used for functions at 400 embassies and ambassadors' residences worldwide.
"We are very happy and proud to have won the contract. We are hopeful that this prestigious order will boost our international sales - especially in the USA," company spokesperson Eva-Marie Hagström told The Local on Tuesday.
The order has however been met with angry reactions from some quarters in the US who feel that the contract should have gone to an American firm.
"Hillary Clinton's State Department is spending $5.4 million to buy fine crystal stemware for American embassies - but it won't give the US economy much of a boost," the New York Post tabloid reported on Monday.
Politicians have also expressed concern over sending the prestigious contract overseas while unemployment remains high in the US.
"This is about fighting for American jobs. The US government should not turn its back on American workers and send job opportunities abroad," Republican Pat Tiberi and Democrat Eric Massa wrote in a letter to Hillary Clinton two weeks ago, according to news agency TT.
The firm, located in Sweden's Kingdom of Crystal in rural Småland in southern Sweden, explained that it had brought home the order in the face of stiff competition and that the US state department had warmed to the firm's environmental profile.
"We won the contract for our design but they were also interested in our lead-free products and environmentally-friendly approach to glass making," Eva-Marie Hagström said.
The specially designed glass dinnerware series is taken from a classic Orrefors model created by Gunnar Cyrén and has been given the name Jasmine.
Peter Vinthagen Simpson
news@thelocal.se
+46 8 656 6518
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So your point is... that US Embassies should drink from glass instead of crystal like the rest of the country?
OK. Lets here it for buy European only and disown anyone who buys from the USA.
Do you people in America know how stupid that would be. Grow up. We live in a global market, which you created. If you don´t like it, don´t impose it in the first place.
If not, then are you saying the State Dept. should be in the business of starting/up-fitting an American company to do this? No? Then stop bitching about the choice.
ha ha
Fair play to Orrefors though. Job Done!
What makes anyone think that globalism is sustainable? Its only an experiment...with disastrous consequenses for the average person so far. Fine crystal...what a mug.
Steuben glass from her Senatorial state of New York, would have been a fine choice. Since she was a carpetbag senator though, she probably knew nothing about this high end glassware company.
First from State Department: Department spokesman Darby Holladay said Systems Design couldn't find a domestic producer who could meet the 100 percent lead-free requirement, although a Steuben spokesman said it does manufacture lead-free crystal.
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/hill_nub_of_ny_firm_is_crystal_clear_FYR65jDt5RHnO4X4CLOaFL#ixzz0iLNp9PRW
Then from Orrefors: "We won the contract for our design but they were also interested in our lead-free products and environmentally-friendly approach to glass making," Eva-Marie Hagström said.
According to one internet source, there is an Environmental Protection Agency corrective action that Steuben has not completed.
The USA does need to protect and create jobs, but not at the expense of the environment. This is where Sweden excels.
Where was this internet source that you found? I would be interested in reading it. I found all kinds of lead free references about Steuben Crystal, but nothing about outstanding EPA violations.
Here's the link:
http://oaspub.epa.gov/enviro/rcra_profile.getmain?p_handler_id=NYD000824359
By the way, I am from the US and returning to live there this coming summer, and I want people to have jobs. But the US definitely needs to clean up its environmental act!
Any other country would use thier governmental facilities to showcase the best thier country has to offer, same should be said for the Americans.
The US is sinking in RED ink...
Every US Embasy has generations of World Class Dinnerware.
Hey! Thats all they Do ???
We have 30+ MILLION Americans OUT of NO Work
Thats OK The President Wanna Be Has the time and purpose to sit around and buy crap we dont need..
Oh! not to worry.. She has plenty of spare time and nothing much else is going on during her watch....
And our PRESIDENT HAS MORE MONEY TO SPEND ON CRAP...
What was wrong with the old glasses?
How much is this costing the American taxpayer?
I see on your link that the site was assessed in 93, but the site was not identified as necessary for cleanup in step 2 by the EPA . It doesn't seem as there is anything that should have disqualified Steuben Crystal in regards to the EPA. According to Steuben Crystal they have lead free products. Frankly, the excuse that was given that there are no 100 percent lead free manufacturers in the US is a bit thin.
Hmm...what to do..Buying American is a nice idea but it just isn't a straight forward process anymore.
But isn't is nice that we are able to do this? I mean, just think about how incredibly fortunate we all are that we actually have the time to sit in front of our shiny computers, sipping fresh coffee made from uncontaminated water and updating the apps on our iPhones, all while ranting over Hillary Clinton's decision to buy fine crystal stemware from a Swedish company. These are things that most people in the world can't even imagine let alone dream about, and yet here we are more concerned about this than we should be.
We should all consider ourselves lucky that we have the time and inclination to care about something so trivial.
(MADE IN JAPAN) for 6 am.
While his coffeepot (MADE IN CHINA)
was perking, he shaved with his electric razor (MADE IN HONG KONG)
He put on a dress shirt (MADE IN SRI LANKA),
designer jeans (MADE IN SINGAPORE)
and tennis shoes (MADE IN KOREA)
After cooking his breakfast in his new electric skillet
(MADE IN INDIA)
he sat down with his calculator (MADE IN MEXICO)
to see how much he could spend today. After setting his watch
(MADE IN TAIWAN)
to the radio (MADE IN INDIA)
he got in his car (MADE IN GERMANY)
filled it with GAS (from Saudi Arabia)
and continued his search for a good paying AMERICAN JOB.
At the end of yet another discouraging and fruitless day
checking his Computer (made in MALAYSIA),
John decided to relax for a while. He put on his sandals
(MADE IN BRAZIL),
poured himself a glass of wine (MADE IN FRANCE)
and turned on his TV (MADE IN INDONESIA)
and then wondered why he can't find a good paying job in AMERICA
AND NOW HE'S HOPING HE CAN GET HELP FROM A PRESIDENT
MADE IN KENYA.
thanks for the spelling lesson "it's fjord"
that's Norway, I knew
No Swedish dollar, no euro dollar, just the Swedish krona...
But we take your point.
For the record, the last glass I was handed at a US Government function was made in Ireland. Our trade barriers have been down for a very long time.
This has not been reciprocated, generally. If you want to buy an American car in Europe or Japan it generally has to be made there (think FORD or OPEL of Germany). Admittidly they all are getting better about building their factories here.
I try not to buy from Communist China, because of their record on Freedom and Human rights.
It would be nice if our embassies cold show off our peoples talents in something other than building fighter planes.
To my american friends (was in college there, liked the place), please grow up.
There is nothing wrong for a foreign company to win a bid to make glassware, as well as there is nothing wrong for an American company to supply Europe with goods.
Remember, most of your electronic equipments you use daily are Made in Asia, so are most of your clothes as well. It doesn't make any sense to raise the voice about glassware Made in Sweden when your everyday objects are not Made in USA mostly.
I have a question though: All the US embassies around the world, are they built with bricks and concrete Made in USA, is the steel from US Steel, or the electricity and tap water do they come from US as well, how about the earth where the embassies are built, do they come from US as well? It will be nice to know that, if you have to tell the dignitaries that really 100% they are in an enviroment truly MADE IN USA.
P.S.
Probably it the same people in D.C. who wanted Northrop Grumman and EADS out of Pentagond tankers bid, because Boeing bitched about it, although it would have created american jobs as well.
I guess in US no European company can do business for US govenment without lynching, while it's perfectly OK for any US company to do business with European goverments.
Maybe we should start asking our governments to provide more European jobs and looking for Made in Europe products.
This was a politically incorrect gesture, but the reality is that the USA doesn't manufacture things at home like they used to.
Boeing however is the Gold Standard in Aircraft, so trying to pawn off a French bird that is bigger than the specs was kind of unrealistic, besides the pilots wanted the Boeing. In the US the pilots always get what they want, even if the rest of the military has to do without to pay for it.
For example, if Sweden's embassies worldwide were to mandate that all embassy vehicles would henceforth be supplied by a Japanese manufacturer, would no one in Sweden question why didn't the country choose Sweden's Volvo? Oh, right...l forgot. Nevermind!
You can replace all those "American" references with "Swedish" and change the name from John Smith to Johan Svensson and come up with the exact same story.
Not sure what you were trying to accomplish with your story there. That same story would fit just about any country in the EU or Americas.
It's ok for the US to buy from Sweden as long as Sweden buys from the US. Reciprical trade. There's a big difference between the Swedish American trade and the Chinese American trade.
They have the same attitude in Australia. They boast about their Australian owned and Australian made produce, because they want to keep the money in the country.
Eventually that attitude will either go away or bite them in the arse.
Well judging from the millions of tons of plastic trash the US dumps into the environment on a DAILY basis I'm not sure that I agree with your idea of using plastic instead of glass. I was shocked at my last business trip where I stayed at a TOP hotel chain and saw them throw away daily bags and bags of plasic cups, forks, knives, spoons, styrofoam a and paper glasses and paper plates.
What's wrong with a dishwasher?
My point is that we have already sold out to the rest of the world and have very little manufacturing compared to what we used to have. As you correctly put it it's the same in most western countries. As long as Americans are willing to buy cheap crap at Walmart made in China why does it matter. Don't bitch at what the government does if you yourself are not willing to do it differently.
The second point is we have a president that cares very little about America, as a matter of fact he seems to apologize to the world for us every chance he gets so my point is you sewed the seeds now swallow the fruit.
Personally I think all nations need to guard their industry infrastructure and manufacturing and keep a certain ability to compete or soon China will own it all. When the choice and ability disapears and they have us by the balls prices will go up and we will see that we would have been better off doing it locally.
What exactly has the USA being a republic got to do with anything in this discussion?
CASwede...You made a good point that really did not require much of an explanation. Globalism has been a nightmare for the American worker...the American middle class.
well said.....this is the kind of world we live in. Products come from all over the globe. To grow in this global world every nation must produce goods cheaply or of extremely high quality where buyers are prepared to pay. Much of Sweden,s products come into the later category.
Well done on getting the contract I say.
That's one interpretation of American Bellic History. Another could also be:
1. that WWII is what pulled the US out of the Great Depression, excuse used: "fighting Nazism"
2. keeping any threat against capitalism as far away from US borders as possible, excuse used: "fighting Facism and Communism";
3. and getting your hands on more and more oil to feed your gas-guzzling automobiles as ckeaply as possible, excuse used: "fighting radical Islamism".
Guess it all depends on one's the point of view.
No...that would be a far too humbling experience.
badgerknox... We actually have more important things to worry about here than that.
Would you mind elaborating on that a bit? I know all the world is curious about what those in the Washington D. C. area worry about. It might give us better insight into the rage of the American people...crystal aside. Do you think any rage really exists?
AirForceGuy...This money may have better been spent on building up American industry and letting the rest of the World defend itself (and pay for it themselves) from the 'evil empires'!
No question about it.
"I, for one, am glad to see that Sweden got the contract and not Japan or China... There is nowhere in the USA where we make crystal or any goods such as that."
So, what's your problem with the contract going to China or Japan rather than Sweden?
Are you ultra-pro developed world? Aren't there poor people in the developing world, who suffers more than American even when they are unemployed?
You should travel more and widen your perspective, woman!
Swedes watch so much American television now they are almost American anyway.
I am happy that a Swedish company got the order. This small town will have more jobs for awhile and American embassies will have quality crystal. Its a win win situation.
I support the American economy through Ebay and Facebook as I am sure a lot of other Swedes do!
Bottom line is, we live in a GLOBALIZED ECONOMY. Grow the eff up, people. We buy from the world, the world buys from us, isn't this how Ricardo's Theory of Specialization (that we were all taught in business school!?!!?) works? Let's all stick to our guns here. Sweden makes the best crystal (imo), hands down. America? Not so much. So let America produce and sell what it's best at, and let Sweden do the same.
What a sad day...I am a non-Clinton supporting Republican, and I actually AGREE (for once) with Hilary's wise choice, probably to the dismay of my own people. Very weird day, indeed. TGIF ;)