You 100% right there Drew. I have taken a few things back to LV lately because of that issue.
But i have a point to make about the whole buying local. Its the same point i made to my business buddies in SA.
When i was involved and on the executive council of one of our largest chambers of commerce everyone was crying about investment. Why did we not get any investment like other countries yada yada yada....
So i said to them all, if we aint prepared to invest in our own country why should anyone else do it.
So when i came over here, i have pretty strong feelings about buying local.
I paid double the price i could have to buy a Delta bandsaw made in the USA with a USA motor.
I paid triple the price for a dust collector made in the USA by USA labor with USA motor.
Some of my other tools i could not find made in the USA or Canada and by then my budget was running low.
So the problem becomes if the USA and Canadian people are not prepared to put their money where their heart is and their mouth then how do we expect it to change.
Price comes down through automation and volume. We are giving both those things to others. If we gave the local guys the volume then they could automate and make the price a lot better to be competitive.
Short term gain but long term pain. Would be very different if everyone on the planet played by the same rules, specifically environmental and exchange rate related.