Have you been shopping for underwear lately? If you start checking the labels you’ll find it’s hard to find Made In The USA down there. If you try, you might find made in Canada – OK by me – but most of all it’s made in China and that’s not OK … and it’s not OH, SC or NC either.
It’s not just our delicates that are imported from China. Jim Hightower reports that even if Obama’s infrastructure proposals were passed, “many of the infrastructure jobs that would be created could end up in China. Holy Uncle Sam! How is this possible?”
– Iron Filing
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China is also very good at dodging tariffs and limitations on what it can ship to the U.S. There was an article on Huffington Post yesterday about imported honey, and how a new process is being used that takes all the pollen out of it. The issue with this is that it eliminates all traces of where the honey originated, meaning honey from China can’t be traced there and can’t be subjected to tariffs we place on Chinese products.
Furthermore, this inability to trace where the honey comes from makes it nearly impossible to trace toxins that may exist in it, such as lead and chemicals that are not allowed in US products. The process of screening the products may pick up on these, but if the honey can’t be traced, we won’t know where it comes from, and some honey products may not be screened because they claim to be from countries that don’t use lead-based products or harmful chemicals.
The problem with Chinese products, in my mind, is that Americans have gotten used to the cheap, semi-quality items we get from across the pond, and we aren’t willing to pay more for domestic products. If we really want to become independent of products made in China, we have to either bite the bullet and pay more, or we have to build up a system where these products can be produced at competitive prices, which will encourage more businesses and manufacturers to stay here.
I spent days looking for coveralls made in the USA, settled for made in Mexico with American materials. Weeks later I was shown an ad for American made! Only $32 for a pair. Went to the store and asked where they were, as they were imposable to find. The guy showed me and then thanked me for asking for Made in USA, saying 95% of what they had was made elsewhere. They can be purchased on-line. “Round House” made in Oklahoma. They sell more then coveralls.
How to be competitive. Medicare for everyone. Change the tax code rewarding businesses for leaving the country and then letting them bring back the profits every five years with a “tax holiday.” Concentrate on demand instead of supply. Leave the WTO.
It isn’t just things. One of my favorite (past tense) restaurants started cutting quality and size of food. After asking a few questions, I found out it was bought out by a Chinese gentleman who has never visited the US. He’s making all sorts of demands on the restaurant to presumably increase profitability. The restaurant is a chain, but with only a few locations scattered across the US.
I bought a timer to hang around my neck from Miles Kimball. The rope around the neck is now so short it doesn’t go over the head. More profit for the Chinese.
Another timer from Granger-nothing like it was advertised. Waste of $40. Made in China.
“Plow and Hearth” has a special section for “made in America”. Lehman.com says where things come from. I bought shoes from Vermont Country Store, they get them from Michigan it said. “made in Dominican Republic” Of course, I want them to have my business.
2014 businesses in this country can drop the health insurance. Put more money into lowering the price of products so we buy locally.
I read about washing machines, ended up getting a wringer from Saudi Arabia, imported through Lehman.com.
If we boycott Chinese goods, we will pay more for better quality
I have posted before that our own government buys china made products with our tax dollars. The new SF-Oakland bridge was made in china, but will be assembled in America with some US workers. Where are the Unions on that? My congressman told me the government even purchases flags not made in the USA. I wrote him a letter saying I cannot believe that a dead Soldier might be wrapped in a flag made in china. The Free Trade Agreements we have, like the recent one pushed for by Obama with South Korea, have helped ship more jobs overseas then anything else. I guess we should be proud we have helped the economies of all the other developing countries.
Try buying almost any clothes, especially suits, nothing is made in America. Try even going to Home Depot and buy a toilet, yep, made in Mexico. I bought some hard wood floors, grown in Brazil, milled in China, then sold in the US. The new “green” CFL bulbs we mandated be in use, you guessed it, all made in china. They gotts love us. We have become a nation of consumers, not manufacturers, which is what made us great.
Why, now thats a more difficult question. Lots of factors. Some benefit us ie. lower prices, but in the end it hurts us, ie. 9% unemployment. Try getting Americans to buy American products and they’ll thumb their nose at you. We need to blame ourselves and our government (both parties) for selling us out.
On easy fix would be to require US tax dollars to only be spent on 100% US products. But good luck finding what we need.
Very nice to see Jim Hightower on PI.
As for boxers: El Salvador and Sri Lanka. Tees appear to frequently come from Nicaragua. I hate buying clothes from China. I used to seek out clothes made in the USA but have given up as it is virtually impossible. I have noticed a couple specialty stores, though, that now offer Made in USA options – for an added fee. At least they’re trying.
I can’t fault someone struggling near minimum wage for shopping for bargains. I like a bargain too but goods produced by child, political prisoner and slave labor are something I will gladly pay extra to avoid since I can afford it.
And as I said in the post, Canada is OK with me. I’m also OK with any other producing countries that pay living wages, in safe working conditions with reasonable environmental protections. Competition across borders is good but the competition needs to be somewhat fair to get my dollars, at least when I remember to check the tags.
Well, we live in a country that has made WalMart one of its single biggest “employers” by offering cheap junk made in China and part-time jobs with no benefits to Americans. The old saying was never more true, “You gets what you pays for.”
You want decent, well-make American products? Step up and pay for them! Stop buying junk from China just because it’s cheap!
Dan, heres a link for pointer brand, made in Bristol TN,
http://www.pointerbrand.com/?gclid=CLbH6-C7qKwCFUbf4Aodwz9y5w
You might roll your eyes when you hear the name Michael Moore, but he does make some good points. Not sure which documentary I saw where he featured a southern US company that made tvs put out of business by some policy that I think put a tariff on their parts, while actual tvs from China were allowed in no problem.
With Christmas coming people will be encouraged to spend – however what proportion of the money for products stay in the country? Disclosure: I am in Canada, it’s just as bad or worse here.
Some other comments here….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NilnCzhy-KE
I love the link to Pointer Brand, Dave.
You can find more American made products at http://madeinusaforever.com/
I especially like this pink dump truck at http://madeinusaforever.com/pidutrbygrto.html