Ground Zero memorial: 'Made in China'

Ground Zero memorial: 'Made in China':

"It used to be called the 'Freedom Tower,' built by Americans in memory of 9/11, but the building planned to be constructed at Ground Zero has had its name changed to One World Trade Center, and according to a Pennsylvania newspaper's editorial, should now be stamped 'Made in China.'

The editorial board at Harrisburg's Patriot-News made the charge after learning that the tower's first 20 stories, designed to be clad in blast-resistant glass in case of future terrorist ambitions, will now be shielded by glass manufactured … in Beijing.

'Despite the fact that three American glass manufacturers, including Pittsburgh-headquartered PPG Industries, spent months working with the tower architects to plan and develop a new kind of glass for floors one through 20, none of these American companies was awarded the contract to make the glass,' writes the Patriot-News. 'That 'honor' is going to Chinese workers, mainly because they get paid so little.'

Pull back the curtain on the rough-and-tumble environment in which so many of our consumer products are being manufactured with 'Poorly Made in China: An Insider's Account of the Tactics Behind China's Production Game'

US Glass Magazine reported the contract for the safety-critical glass was awarded to the lowest bidder, a U.S. firm, DCM Solera, which subcontracted procurement of the glass from a Chinese manufacturer.

WABC-TV in New York City reports that PPG Industries actually developed the blast-resistant technology in the glass and had been considered the front-runner to fulfill the $82 million contract."