I’d like to support jobs here in america instead of helping corporations perpetuate wage slavery in third world countries.
But it seems that some products are made almost exclusively outside of the USA. Like clothing, and shoes. Are there any clothing and shoe companies that don’t outsource their labor? What about DVD players and other electronics?
I think New Balance makes the majority of their shoes in the US.
I read also that most socks bought in the US are made in the US.
As for consumer electronics, Thompson (they have the Zenith brand) still makes stuff in the US, but not exclusively, I think. IIRC, they are struggling.
What has happened in the US has also happened in Japan: almost no consumer electronics are made here now. When I interviewed at Casio, they said that most of their products are made overseas. Malaysia and China are big.
I have been pondering myself lately: What are the actual cost savings of manufacturing abroad? Is it a few pennies or much more? What about for apparel?
In any event, the US is a still a manufacturing and agricultural powerhouse. About 15% of the US economy is derived from exports (but don’t forget the trade deficit!). IIRC, Japan is about 10%.
Still, we have dropped the ball on certain industries and ceded control in them to other countries.
Google is your friend.
It’s is increasingly hard to find US made cloting and shoes. I don’t think you’ll find much in the way of consumer electronics.
FWIW I think you mean offshoring as “outsourcing” could still mean outsorced to US workers.
I don’t think this is true of New Balance any more.
When I looked at their site just a few months ago, they said something like “Although we make some shoes overseas…”
Who knows, though. They didn’t provide numbers or anything.
I hope you have a good income-- it’s going to be expensive!
So basically you don’t think poor foreigners should have jobs and Americans deserve more to do tasks that anyone with two hands and half a brain can do by virtue of the fact they share a nationality with you.
Lets keep this to GQ.
The most reliable, although far, far more expensive way to get this done is to just find a custom tailor/dress maker to do your clothes instead of buying off the rack. Skilled labour costs a lot in the developed world so it’s either buy cheap, adequate, foreign clothes, or expensive, slightly better than adequate, American clothes.
[Wild tangent]Basically I don’t want companies escaping the minimum wage requirements in the U.S by taking jobs to countries where they can pay 15 cents an hour. Plus I don’t like the trend in this country where you have to have a college education to make a living. If a college degree is a requirement to get a job, why not have free college for everyone like we have free high school?[/wild tangent]
Made anywhere, is virtually meanless these days. A car can be built in the US, but the various components will come from any number of countries. Even if you accept “Assembled in USA,” you’ll still have difficulty in finding electronics. And even if you do find electronics assembled here, you’ll not be supporting high wage American workers. Many of the electronics “plants” in the US are staffed primarily by temp workers, who are paid just over minimun wage, have no benefits, and no hopes of ever being hired on full-time. (Dell does this with their facilities here in TN.)