National Toys Are Not Child's Play MARIA LUISA DÍAZ DE LEÓN 'Globalization insights’ is a series of feature stories told by journalists from Africa, Asia and Latin America – sto­ries that give an insight into the perceptions and experi­ences of people as globalization unfolds in their environs. This project is jointly organized by the Friedrich-Ebert­Stiftung and IPS EUROPA. "Mummy, why has everything got a label saying'Made in China'? Why doesn't anything say'Made in Mexico'? …If my Barbie was made in China, why doesn't she look Chinese?" Lucia, who is 7 and lives in Mexico City, is puzzled by these questions and puts them to her parents in the run­up to a visit by Santa Claus. After all, she needs to com­pile a Christmas list. To encourage their daughter's national pride, Lucia's mummy and daddy take her round the shops so she can choose some Mexican toys for Christmas. But quite apart from the fact that there aren't many around, they don't appeal to the child as much as the ones she has seen on telly. She has never come across these Mexican toys before, because they don't feature on Cartoon Network or Disney Channel. Not that there is anything outstanding about Mexican toys. The domestic toymaking sector was never a force to be reckoned with. But it is striking how these oriental pro­ducts are sweeping the market. Besides, national pride peters out in Mexico once it stumbles over the wallet. Hunting down the cheapest Christmas gifts and decorations is the most popular con­sumer sport. But the season does prompt a few grown-ups, fewer by the year, to hanker for those traditional Mexican toys of wood and clay that kids don't like and shops won't sell. Numbers speak volumes. Of the 300 toymaking compa­nies registered in 1986, only 80 still remain. Those who yearn for the past and are critical of multinati­onals ignore the lack of foresight displayed by Mexican firms during bygone protectionist days. Ten years ago the Foreign Exchange Bank increased the tariff on imported toys by 3000 per cent, but the Mexican industry founde­red nevertheless. According to data held by the Mexican Association of Toymakers, the 80 domestic companies in the sector account for 40 percent of the national market, which is worth 1.2 billion dollars a year. The rest consists of im­ported goods and the output of foreign companies with a manufacturing base in the country.