The era of cheap Chinese consumer goods may finally be ending, thanks to irrepressible inflation

American shoppers, for the first time in years, are starting to pick up the tab for rising costs in China. Some Chinese factories are now asking their American customers for price increases of as much as 20 percent to 30 percent

Chinese factories and buyers are now negotiating about spring 2009 shoe lines, and that is where consumers will really start to see the impact of Chinese inflation

his is only the beginning: We'll be paying higher prices for Chinese goods for years to come

the renminbi has been appreciating at a 16 percent annualized rate. And prices for raw materials, which account for 60 percent to 70 percent of manufacturers' costs, are soaring

China is rolling out wage increases around the country and tightening its labor laws. Wages are rising at double-digit rates in coastal China

a dwindling supply of young workers as a result of the "one child" policy in effect since 1979