Cheaper Chilies From China

Americans are not the only people who complain about cheap Chinese imports. Mexicans now are feeling the heartburn. In the late 1990s, the Mexican market for chili peppers was penetrated by cheaper chilies from China.

From Herald.com:

The trickle soon became a flood. Between 50 percent and 80 percent of the dried peppers now sold in Mexico are imported, according to wholesalers and analysts.

Abroad, Mexico is losing market share as its top customer for peppers, the United States, increasingly is looking to China -- and recently Peru, Chile and parts of Africa -- to meet demand. India long has been the top U.S. chili provider but also is seeing its piece of the American pie shrink due to Chinese competition.

I suspect that a tabasco-strength insult now chinks the national pride knowing that most of the chilies bought in Mexico come from China.