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Made in the USA


Texsox

Do you ever look for Made in the USA?  

17 members have voted

  1. 1. Do you ever look for Made in the USA?

    • Yes, and I will pay 20% more to buy it
      2
    • Yes, and will buy it if nearly the same price
      0
    • Yes
      3
    • No
      12


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I wouldn't say I make a conscious effort to find USA made products, but I will purchase them vs imported if I notice and have a reasonable choice.

The same with me. It's just so damn hard to find certain things made in the USA. Try finding kids toys made in the USA. After my daughter was born, I looked at all of her baby toys (and there were A LOT) and only two weren't made in China and those two didn't say where it was made.

 

For crying out loud, most American flags are made outside of the US.

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When was the last time you looked at the manufacturers label? Would you buy a Made in the USA product over a similar product made elsewhere? What if it cost more?

I buy made in the usa products as much as humanly possible. I really dont care if I have to pay more to get them either.

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The same with me. It's just so damn hard to find certain things made in the USA. Try finding kids toys made in the USA. After my daughter was born, I looked at all of her baby toys (and there were A LOT) and only two weren't made in China and those two didn't say where it was made.

 

For crying out loud, most American flags are made outside of the US.

i dont really look i go off of quality not location of goods made.

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Not really.  Honesty do you know how little it takes for a product to be labeled Made in the USA?  It could be as little as the final assembly.

IT IS more complicated than that. There are different requirements based on country of origin. For example you may have X percent of the sub assembly made in Asia but X+% made in a NAFTA country and still be labeled as Made in USA. That is why we have so many Japanese companies located on the Tex-Mex border. They could avoid some tariffs on imports by locating in NAFTA countries.

 

If you take 80% non NAFTA sub assemblies and do final assembly in the US, you may still have tariff issues. You may also get tagged with "Made in the USA with Foreign Materials" or something to that effect.

 

It is a huge issue down here with companies trying to balance what Made in USA is worth. It seems it is worth more on different products. With textiles it means diddly squat, that zero, nada, absolutely worthless. Which is why this area lost much of Levi's, Dickies, Converse, Vanity Fair, and a couple other's production to South America and beyond. In some cases the distribution and warehousing stayed here.

 

Other products there are small benefits and the manufacturer will try and source in NAFTA countries. To help the manufactures Mexico changed their laws to allow US subassemblies to remain in their country longer, easing the inventory costs and allowing US manufacturing to compete on a more even playing field.

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Honestly I am glad you corrected me.  I am more familar with the auto and steel industries being from this part of the midwest.  I know getting a car labeled as made in the USA is so easy it is pathetic.

All the cars Brian and myself own are made in the USA and love my car! :headbang

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All the cars Brian and myself own are made in the USA and love my car! :headbang

You'd be surprised. As of about 5 years ago, I know for a fact that only one car line could say they were completely made in the USA, and that is Cadillac. All of the others have foreign made parts, or sections assembled overseas that come hear to be added while on our assembly lines. Saturn was the car closest out of the rest of the lines.

Edited by southsider2k4
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:nono

 

Don't be so sure about that...

6 of our cars were made in the late 60s and earlt 70s - nothing after 1971 (I don't think Mercury was making them outta the country then).

 

1 was in '89 (F-250). And the other two were at least assembled in Michigan.

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You'd be surprised.  As of about 5 years ago, I know for a fact that only one car line could say they were completely made in the USA, and that is Cadillac.  All of the others have foreign made parts, or sections assembled overseas that come hear to be added while on our assembly lines.  Saturn was the car closest out of the rest of the lines.

Marketing has a lot to do with that. Funny but my Made in Tennessee (I guess we count them) Kawasaki had more US content than some Harleys.

 

I do not have a auto assembly plant close by but I can get see almost every low end stereo (Delco, Panasonic), windshield wipers, motors, seat belt assemblies, dashboard assemblies, brake systems, seats, seat heaters, automatic starters, openers, etc. being made within an hour of my house. Most of these are European and Asian companies who came here as a direct result of NAFTA.

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6 of our cars were made in the late 60s and earlt 70s - nothing after 1971 (I don't think Mercury was making them outta the country then).

 

1 was in '89 (F-250).  And the other two were at least assembled in Michigan.

I think you're safe on anything in the 60's and possibly up to and including 1974. After that things get cloudy.

 

Anything made after 1985 - with the exception of the Caddy and I do believe the Mark V or VII Lincoln - DEFINITELY has foreign parts/production. Assembled in Michigan doesn't mean squat.

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All the cars Brian and myself own are made in the USA and love my car! :headbang

To play devil's advocate, many "American" made cars are made overseas, while many "import" cars are made here in America. In a globalized economy, most of the times the only difference is where the corporate headquarters are.

 

Anyways, don't think I ever check. However, with the dollar getting destroyed on the international market, US exports are up, so we have that going for us. Which is nice.

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To play devil's advocate, many "American" made cars are made overseas, while many "import" cars are made here in America.  In a globalized economy, most of the times the only difference is where the corporate headquarters are.

 

Anyways, don't think I ever check.  However, with the dollar getting destroyed on the international market, US exports are up, so we have that going for us.  Which is nice.

Probably a good deal of them are mostly overseas.

 

Most of the cars Brian and I have are pre-1980. I forgot that two of the six I referred to are 1981 and 1986 (but he rebuilt both of those with engines from the late 60s early 70s so whether they started out completely made here, I don't know but I know that they are now).

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Probably, but you just can't assume. There is a huge Mitsubishi plant somewhere in Central Illinois that pumps millions of dollars into the local economy. Meanwhile, the higher ups at Ford or GM still would have you believe that even though their cars are manufactured in Asia to keep costs low, by buying "American" you're helping to keep American jobs, when in reality, you're just lining their pockets.

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Meanwhile, the higher ups at Ford or GM still would have you believe that even though their cars are manufactured in Asia to keep costs low, by buying "American" you're helping to keep American jobs, when in reality, you're just lining their pockets.

I can't stand GM products so anything I say would be biased.

 

As for Ford, they are screwing themselves silly here in the good ole USA. They are doing everything to have an excuse to shut down the Mercury line, haven't had a fresh design in awhile (although, I do like the new Mustang - when is that damned thing coming out anyway?) and are more concerned with the other lines they have purchased - jaguar, etc.

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I can't stand GM products so anything I say would be biased. 

 

As for Ford, they are screwing themselves silly here in the good ole USA.  They are doing everything to have an excuse to shut down the Mercury line, haven't had a fresh design in awhile (although, I do like the new Mustang - when is that damned thing coming out anyway?) and are more concerned with the other lines they have purchased - jaguar, etc.

I disagree. Their biggest project lately, the redesign of the F150 is creating quite a stir and from what I've been reading the next model year will see a truckload, pardon the pun, of new designs from not only Ford but all of the big 3.

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I disagree.  Their biggest project lately, the redesign of the F150 is creating quite a stir and from what I've been reading the next model year will see a truckload, pardon the pun, of new designs from not only Ford but all of the big 3.

I guess we'll agree to disagree.

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