Aug 01, 2012
Chris Collins Creates Jobs…in China and South Korea?
Millionaire and failed former County Executive Chris Collins (NY-27) loves to talk about how “China cheats,” but what he doesn’t ever mention is that his family’s company manufactures goods in both China and South Korea. It’s time for Chris Collins to come clean with Western New York voters and admit how many jobs he has created in China and South Korea.
“Chris Collins is trying to hide his family’s Chinese and South Korean manufacturing plants from Western New York voters,” said Josh Schwerin, Northeast Press Secretary at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “Instead of hiding behind rhetoric about China, Chris Collins needs to tell voters exactly how many jobs his family has created there – thousands of miles away from Western New York.”
Background
Collins: “China Cheats.” In June 2012, Collins claimed that the U.S. should stand up to China and use tariffs to stop them from cheating on international trade. “The key words there are China cheats,” Collins said. “They cheat by manipulating their currency, which gives them, I believe, a 30-percent cost advantage over the American manufacturer. They steal our intellectual property. And they don’t open their own markets to our manufacturers.” Collins said the US should enact tariffs until China capitulates and trades as an equal partner with the U.S. “I believe China needs us more than we need them,” he said. “They need our consumers. Quite frankly, we don’t need them.” [The Batavian, 6/24/12]
Collins’ Family Business Has Manufacturing Facilities in China. Ingenious Products was founded under Collins’ wife’s name in 2008. On his 2012 personal financial disclosure, he reported the company as an asset valued between $100,001 and $250,00. According to its website, Ingenious conducts its product distribution and fulfillment through its Clarence, N.Y., and Portland, Ore., offices. However, its manufacturing plants are located at anonymous “local western New York facilities,” and also at facilities in Beaverton, Ore., Seoul, South Korea, and Yantai Shandon Province, China. [New York Secretary of State, Division of Corporations, accessed 5/01/12; Collins 2012 PFD; Ingenious Products Inc. website, accessed, 8/01/12]
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