It looks like China is using Mattel's apology to reinforce the feeling around the world that Chinese exports are generally safe. While I applaud the effort, it's hard to see how China sees exports as being safe.

While trust may change on that topic after a period of time without some kind of product recall, the fact is that too many recalls have come out of that country in the last year. Albeit, these were from American firms many of the time, but the actual product maker or producer was a Chinese company or firm.

Are both American companies and Chinese exporters to blame here? You bet -- and it will take a while for the trust level to be built back up in countries around the world.