American Made? Probably Not...

It looks like big business is getting wise to consumers who want to buy American-made products.  Many products now claim to be ‘distributed by,’ rather than ‘made in.’  Quite a distinction since any product could be distributed from an address in the United States, but made in China or Taiwan.  

As an experiment, I’m going to take a quick look around my office and see what’s what with stuff I use every day.

Germ-X:  Distributed from a St. Louis, MO address.  A quick Google indicates that it is also manufactured there.  Whew!   I love that stuff…

Suave Mango Mandarin hand lotion:  Made in the USA!  Yay!

Envelopes:  Uh-oh.  Made in Mexico.

Diamond stick matches:  Made in the USA!

Bags for waste basket:  Made in China.  Not cool.

Wrigley’s Extra chewing gum:  Hmm.  Wikipedia says that Wrigley has factories located in the United States, Mexico, Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Spain, New Zealand, the Philippines, France, Kenya, Taiwan, China, India, Poland, and Russia, so it’s anybody’s guess as to where this package originated.

Theraflu Nighttime Cold and Cough:  Another uh-oh.  Nothing on the bottle but a ‘distributed by.’  Google turned up a website proclaiming worldwide offices. 

Sounds like a truth in labeling issue.  We deserve to know where our ‘stuff’ is being made.

But that’s not what prompted this particular blog.  Nope.  I was just wondering what import taxes are charged for things like my envelopes, trash bags and Wrigley’s (if it was made in another country).

I have to say that doing this impromptu inventory, and finding out the results, makes me wonder if it’s really that much cheaper to produce those things in China, Taiwan, Mexico, or any of the other countries we buy from.

After you factor in shipping expenses for these inexpensive items, how can it possibly be?

How many Americans could be put to work making these things instead?  I mean, I don’t know about you, but I go through these things on a very regular basis.  I’m sure you do, too.  We could keep companies like that in business, and keep our countrymen and women working forever.

Okay, my curiosity got the best of me.  A quick walk through the kitchen and bathroom reveal that my Ajax dish soap, disposable cake decorating bags, peroxide and Garnier shiny hair stuff, all made in the USA.  My G.E. light bulbs are made in Mexico.  The innards for the toilet tank (to be changed out this weekend) are assembled in Mexico.  Not sure where the parts come from.  Curad Band Aids-China.  Solar Sense sunscreen-Canada.

Now my Bunn coffee filters don’t mention anything about where they are manufactured or distributed from.  Pardon me while I make a pit stop at Google…  Another worldwide kind of thing so who knows.

But again, why can’t these things be manufactured here?  Even if they did cost a little more, wouldn't it be worth it to provide and keep the jobs here?

Manufacturing jobs don’t have to go the way of the stagecoach and telegraph.  Nearly  everything we use is made in some sort of factory.  So again, why can’t they be made here? 

Are we so cheap and stupid that we’d rather spend our dollars in other countries to save a few pennies?  Because that's what we're doing by buying things made everywhere but here.

Even if enough Americans started a peaceful revolution, the government can’t solve all of the problems we’re facing. 

With every purchase we make, we choose whether we support our country-or another one.  At this point it looks like our goal is to prosper the rest of the world.  We keep buying their cheaper-often inferior-products, and accepting their second class tech and customer support, and helping to drive this country to the brink of bankruptcy.

If it doesn’t say ‘Made in the USA,’ don’t buy it.  Let’s cause there to be a need for American factories to open up and manufacture the products we use on a daily basis.  Let’s put our family and friends back to work.

Change starts with a few.  Will you be one of them?

And now I think I'm going to go throw our Curad Band-Aids away.  After the scares with lead, and then poisoned pet foods, I'm not sure I want first aide products from China in my house!