In the U.S., is everything retail, and subject to new 25 percent tariffs, marked “Made in Mexico” or Made in Canada?" Or are those markings discretionary?
I’m thinking that bread flour, for example, might be mostly made from Canadian wheat even if not having a “Made in” label.
Dopers from Mexico and Canada (or American tourists) might also be interested in whether everything in their stores are marked if made in U.S.A.
There are extremely complex rules on this issue under trade law, because of the interconnected supply chains. I don’t think it’s easy to say, other than for grocery products like fruit and vege.
The Trump bible, a.k.a. the God Bless the USA bible, was printed in Hangzhou, China. It took some effort to track down the origin since nowhere in it was the country of publication listed. (Which is contrary to normal publishing practice.)
(The export value was listed as <$3 each. They retail for $60.)
Some American goods put the US flag or “Proudly made in the USA” on their packaging, as a selling point.
I think those goods may not sell as well in Canada going forward.
There is a small city in Japan named Usa. I’ve heard there used to be products made there for export to here labeled MADE IN USA
The McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 is generally considered the starting point for mandatory labelling of country of origin for goods imported into the USA. Until then you commonly got a manufacturer / town mark. This was replaced with manufacturer / country or additional labels, stamps and markings were used.
Its one of the first basic dating criteria anyone dabbling in antiques and old things learns.
Fun fact - McKinley’s tariffs increased to almost 50% for most items, and yes there were massive price rises for consumers.
Urban legend - Was a Town in Japan Renamed 'Usa' So Its Products Could Be Labeled 'Made in USA'? | Snopes.com
I have a ton of stuff in my medicine cabinet that I have no idea of their manufacturing origins. Many of them simply say, “Distributed by ______”
My primitive, retail-oriented brain believes there’s a “manufacturer,” a “distributor,” and a “retailer” and they may or may not be the same company located in the same country.
Well I didn’t say they changed the name of their town, but there is such a town. And I only said I heard this was done. I didn’t report it as a fact. It makes sense they couldn’t get away with it.
I had always thought this was some kind of WTO rule applying to all products, because, here in the UK, basically everything has country of origin on it somewhere. On googling though, the WTO leaves it to member states, and blocs like the EU have complex lists of what does or does not need country of origin labelling.
As a general rule, any goods imported into the U.S. must have the name of the country of origin printed on it somewhere.
Marking of Country of Origin on U.S. Imports | U.S. Customs and Border Protection
AFAIK most countries require conuntry of origin/manufacture to be listed. I have seen things listed “bottled in Canada” possibly implying the raw materials are abitrarily sourced from multiple countries.
I recall during the build-up to boycotting South Africa during the apartheid era, some people complained about grocery stores labelling produce “product of USA” and ignoring the explanation that USA was Union of South Africa.
A news item in the UK suggested that recently one supermarket was re-labelling Israeli produce as “Product of South Africa”. Sodastream would label their equipment “Product of Israel” despite it being made in Palestine in a West Bank factory.
Some products only say “distributed by…”. Local Cocca Cola products (among others) may be “bottled in Canada” but the key ingredient, the secret recipe syrup, is I assume shipped from the USA.
The “Union of South Africa” was replaced by the “Republic of South Africa” (RSA) in 1961. I think you got something wrong with your timeline or such.
Originally the goods merely had to display the country name somewhere. Many Asian makers of ceramic used paper labels that could be removed. This led to copies of collectible ceramics flooding the market. They were then required to carry a permanent mark molded in.
Nope. That was a real complaint in the newspaper sometime in the 1990’s when “Boycott South Africa” was a big thing. I suspect someone in the grocery store, or the supplier, was being clever. (this was the label on the price ticket above the bin, apparently)
Nope. Coke products vary by country and may be produced locally. They are in Canada - they used to be a client of mine.
It’s an urban legend. Full stop.
Yes, there is a city 宇佐市 Usa City. The name of the area 宇佐 Usa dates back over a century ago.
The fact that you quote only part of the urban legend doesn’t change the fact that it is indeed an urban legend.
Were products made there ever labeled “MADE IN USA”?
Of course not. As Snopes says, it was a joke.
Even before the McKinley Tariff act of 1890?