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Made in America

Would I pay a 5% premium for quality tools/machinery made in America? You bet. Do I buy America/Canada when I can. You bet. However, like it or not there is a global economy where folks like us in every country are trying to get ahead. It's too easy for big corporations to go offshore to reduce labor costs and taxes. Taxes should be an easy fix. Labor costs, not so easy. We need to understand the global economy and how we best can fit in. I sure don't have a solution.
 
I prefer to buy Canadian or American when I can. My Ford truck was made in Minnesota, and my Toyota SUV was made in Alliston Ontario with Canadian labour. Sometimes, though, you just don't have a choice when everything you might need today is made in China.
 
They went through the house. The residents were of the same mindset, we buy American as much as possible. Yet, their house was emptied of non-American products.

It DID get filled with American made and at competitive pricing.

So, the argument that American is more expensive is - - I dunno.

American made car? Does that really qualify as "I buy American"?? What about the rest of the house?

I am just as guilty as the rest of us. I would empty my house in the same way. BUT, I do own a Ford. I also wish I had a Honda instead.

I just thought this video was interesting - and a bit challenging.

YES - Global economy. NOT really. If the monetary system was global - "MAYBE", if regulations were equal, MAYBE - If wages were on the same plane, MAYBE --- but it's not. And, nobody shares the wealth.

I do believe in doing business locally, as much as possible and working with local people. Why not nationally?

I dunno - I am just rambling. I do feel challenged by the video.

I think, the least I can do is to at least, think about it, and look for Made in USA - or Made in Canada - when I shop for something, Even if it is a couple of percent more.

I do like my Bosch tools. What is American Made?
 
lets see, post war until the late 60's and early 70's people bought american because both germany and japan were both bombed practically into the middle ages, and took a while to rebuild. they rebuilt, we got complacent. now between complacency, and labor pricing itself into almost non-existence, work goes overseas where the labor costs are less. same with light and heavy manufacturing. throw in a more accessible world market, and here we are, complaining about customers shopping with the competition. quality is quality no matter where it is made. borderline political in and of itself, in an america firster kind of way. i say buy it here if you can, overseas as need be.
 
Americans have become soft, complacent, and lazy. I hate to say it, but it is true. We have become too dependent on technology. Our labor costs have gone through the roof mainly because of unions. At one time, unions were a good thing. No longer. They are generally more corrupt than politicians. History has proven that. Get rid of the unions, slowly bring labor costs back to a more competitive level, and more will be made here. The average US Postal Worker starts at around $4400.00 a month. Give me a break. I buy as much as I can that is either American or Canadian made, but sometimes I don't think it is possible with things as they are, and that is sad. And people wonder why we are not the powerhouse we used to be. Here endeth the lesson.
 
Maybe I'm un-American, but I buy what I need that will serve my needs and at the best price I can find, regardless of where it's made.

I made my living in the international world during my 40 years in international logistics. I handled and coordinated shipments from the U.S. to the world, from the World to the U.S. and from one part of the world to another part of the world. Most of what I handled was heavy machinery, for mining and oil exploration... I put together a 20 ton shaker machine for a gold mine in Peru with parts from Toledo, Taiwan, the U.K., Australia and Brazil...the mine is owned by 49$ the Peruvian government and 51% by a company out of Denver... some of the parts had to be bought because U.S. manufacturers were too expensive.... Like Dave Hoskins, I believe that we have allowed ourselves to be priced out of our own markets by labor costs...
 
I haven't finished watching the video yet, due to the browser crashing. (have some issue since a security update, haven't solved). Want to get this out while I am remembering it. There is a book that I read a few years back, that may be of interest here:
A Year Without "Made in China": One Family's True Life Adventure in the Global Economy by Sara Bongiorini

IMHO, not everything made here, has or will always be a good product, anymore then saying anything made in China is junk. It all comes down to what people value and what value the items provide.
I had an old socket set I inherited, made in the USA out of some kind of pot metal, prior to ratchets. I finished watching the video, and wonder if it is recent and when is it on (and for how long is the series)?
Notice they let the gal helping, bring in a computer (not made in the USA), I expect their camera's weren't either, as well as most electronics (no tv's back in the house).
A lot of old made in the USA stuff (furniture, especially), can be bought at thrift stores and estate sales, but that has its own issues. It doesn't provide support for current manufacturing, may cost to be recovered/refinished, etc (and where are those supplies from), may not keep the spouse happy (style wise), etc.
 
Folks interested in this might want to read through:
https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/complying-made-usa-standard
and
https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/bus...made-products-what-businesses-need-know-about

In some cases a lot of most of the work done by folks here could be "made in the usa", but in other cases there may be non-obvious issues like "is the wood finish a "major component" that was foreign made? I'm not actually sure..

It seems like it might be a reasonable selling point though if you're careful about it.

Hehehe, well luckily they didn't pull ALL of the foreign materials from the house or it would have been a weee bit more expensive.

I'd place a good bet that somewhere around 50% of the below were not made in america.
  • roofing
  • nails
  • wiring
  • paint
  • drywall
  • counter tops
  • cabinets
  • and yes the phone and computer are more or less definitely out at this point (unless you're counting the machine that made the machine that made the chips which are - I believe still largely made here..).

My initial thought was that people spend a lot more nowadays on "things" than they did in 1960 and that might account for some of the increase, but it looks like my initial thought is completely wrong..
Looking at the max range from this chart:
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/consumer-spending
it looks like 1960 people spent about $1,600/yr and today they spend about 11,500 or thereabouts. Seems like a lot... but
plug the numbers into here:
http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/
and we see that $1,600 then is about $12,800 now. Huh! Who'd have thought that consumer spending has been more-or-less "flat" for the last 55 years once you account for inflation.


To a certain point I agree with Dave H. The end result of this is perhaps more onshoring as more manufacturing moves to automated processes which are often as cheap to do here as elsewhere. That doesn't help domestic jobs as much as you might like though.
 
While buying American/Canadian/UK/Swazi is good in those countries, there are a couple of things that lessen the sting of buying foreign.

Half of the purchase price goes to the American retail store to pay salaries, utilities, supplies, repairs, etc. The goods are subject to duties on arrival on our shores, which go to the government to pay for services. The goods are transported from the port of entry to an American warehouse in an American truck with an American driver. Then they are taken from the warehouse to the retailer, again by American means.
The truck company and the warehouse share in the spoils, and the truck uses American gasoline or diesel. So some of the money ends up in a foreign country. These US dollars must eventually be spent back in the US, or converted to foreign currency, but ultimately the only place you can spend a US buck is in the US.

So, while buying national is a good thing, there are some good things to be said about buying foreign, as well.
 
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