Mattel Apologizes to China Over Recalls

Thomas A. Debrowski, Mattel's executive vice president for worldwide operations, left, meets with Chinese product safety chief Li Changjiang during his visit to the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) office in Beijing Friday, Sept. 21, 2007. U.S. toy giant Mattel issued an extraordinary apology to China on Friday over the recall of Chinese-made toys, saying most of the items were defective because of Mattel's design flaws rather than faulty manufacturing. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) (Andy Wong - AP)

China has bristled at what it claims is a campaign to discredit its reputation as an exporter. It accuses foreign media and others of playing up its product safety issues as a form of protectionism and has stepped up inspections of food, drugs and other products in response to the concerns.

Manufacturing toys in China has helped Mattel and other U.S. companies lower manufacturing and labor costs, helping boost profits.

Mattel established a presence in China 25 years ago and now makes about 65 percent of its products there. More than 80 percent of all toys sold in the U.S. are made in the Asian nation.

Mattel's apology garnered praise from some parents, including Arianna McRoberts, 41, of Los Angeles, the mother of two boys, 7 and 14.

"It's unfortunate China got the bad rap, but I also think China needs to pay attention a little more carefully to their standards so they comply with American standards," McRoberts said.

Johnson said the staging of Mattel's apology as a public event was telling.

"This was all about saving face, which is very important in the Chinese culture," he said.

The mea culpa could help reshape the debate surrounding Chinese-made toys.

New research from two business professors shows that recalls due to problems with the designs of U.S.-based companies accounted for about 76 percent of the 550 U.S. toy recalls since 1988.

The report was released earlier this month by Paul R. Beamish, an international business professor at Canada's University of Western Ontario, and Hari Bapuji, business professor at University of Manitoba's I.H. Asper School of Business in Winnipeg, Canada.

It found that recalls blamed on design problems and manufacturing defects, such as lead paint or poor craftmanship, both rose in the past two years as U.S. makers have shifted more of their production to China.

But they noted that, "if shifting manufacturing to China resulted in poorer quality goods, then the number of toys recalled due to manufacturing should be greater than the number recalled due to design."

The report said that was not the case.

"Nobody gets a free ride on this," said Beamish, arguing that toy makers' obsession to quickly get new products to market before they are widely copied has resulted in a lot of cost-cutting and inadequate testing.

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AP Business Writer Anne D'Innocenzio in New York and Associated Press Writers Alexa Olesen in Beijing and Solvej Schou in Los Angeles, contributed to this report.