Product recalls - Did they bring it upon themselves?

Product recall is not a term alien to consumers of today who see recalls of every shape, size, hue and nature on a daily basis. The attention given by media to such recalls has caught the concern of many about manufacturing products outside the country, where environmental and safety laws are not as stringent.
But on the other hand one does ponder about the need for such cheap methods of manufacturing. For instance in the case of the Mattel Toys that were recalled due to the high content of Lead in the paint used on the toys, I cannot help wonder if the manufacturer from China was using the cut rate variety of paint to meet competitive pressure or demand from the buyer (Mattel).
It is easy to argue that the buyer is not responsible for the unethical or sometime illegal decisions that suppliers make to meet business demands, but one wonders where to draw the distinction between aggressive business and unreasonablity. Aggressive demands from say a giant like Wal-mart might force the smaller suppliers/manufacturers to cut costs in dangerous ways and ultimately affects the buyers business. In changing times where production an sales hardly ever happen within 10'000 miles of each other businesses should consider the very real risk of aggressive cost cutting tactics!