Imports

Many Chicago-area stores are routinely selling lead-tainted toys, including items with levels more than 10 times government safety limits, testing by the Tribune shows. In one of the most comprehensive inquiries into lead in children's products, the...

The U.S. trade deficit widened slightly in October as a record price for imported oil outweighed the export-spurring benefits of a weaker dollar, a Commerce Department report showed Wednesday. Rising oil costs also propelled U.S. import prices 2.7%...

The dollar has lost a big chunk of its global purchasing power since the end of 2001 -- an average of 37%, as measured by one index that tracks the greenback against other major currencies. Gauging the decline is easy; explaining why the buck has slumped...

Today, Clark and Gardner discuss the increasing resource demands of developing nations. Previously, they debated government policies aimed at altering consumption habits, increasing food prices and the question of whether global trends in overall supply...

Three recently published books suggest that an emerging literary form, the wine memoir, is gathering momentum. Each book -- Alice Feiring's "The Battle for Wine and Love or How I Saved the World From Parkerization," Neal I. Rosenthal's "Reflections of a...

Nice buys, in case you want a case These eight wines offer appealing flavor, excellent balance and moderate alcohol content and are low-priced, making them excellent case buys for summer gatherings. They were selected by sampling a range of under-$12...

What can you make with cheap crawfish, garlic, canned mushrooms and honey? A class action lawsuit, say U.S. food producers who are suing The Hartford and other insurers for nearly $1 billion in damages. The suit, filed Tuesday, spotlights how the...

Second of three parts Roxanna Brown never saw the car that hit her. The 36-year-old expert in Southeast Asian art was pulling her motorcycle out of a parking lot in Bangkok when the vehicle knocked her onto a busy road. There she was repeatedly...

Today, Andrés Martinez and Joseph Farah debate the danger of Chinese imports. Yesterday, they discussed the broad question of U.S. engagement with the world's most populous country. Later this week, they'll debate military threats, Olympic boycotts and...

Brightly colored children's bracelets and necklaces line the display case of a Chinese manufacturer in this factory town. Adorned with mini school buses, sandals and other charms, the jewelry sits ready to be sold to foreign and domestic buyers. It also...

Sitting in a windowless conference room surrounded by the remote-control toy Ferraris and Mercedes he sells the world over, factory owner Kuma Gu summed up what it's like to manufacture products for American consumers these days. "A lot of Chinese...

In a year filled with recalls and substandard or tainted consumer products (toys, cribs, children's jewelry, pet food, seafood, toothpaste), the notion that dinnerware was somehow safe seemed naive. Historically, lead has been used in dinnerware's...