# Are All Consumer Goods Marked "Made in" If Not Domestic? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 2, 2025, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-consumer-goods-marked-made-in-if-not-domestic/1013756 "2025-02-02T14:20:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2025, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-consumer-goods-marked-made-in-if-not-domestic/1013756/21 "2025-02-06T02:13:46Z")
I get that you are being very clever, but why would they? What manufacturing was being done in Usa in the late 19th century? ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2025, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-consumer-goods-marked-made-in-if-not-domestic/1013756/22 "2025-02-06T02:41:34Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > The name of the area 宇佐 Usa dates back over a century ago. Correction. I had actually meant to write millennium and had a brain fart. Looking up, the name goes back over 1,500 years. Without researching it I don’t know the exact numbers but my WAG is that in 1890 Japan’s industrial base was about 1% of that of the United States, and other than silk and a few other items, there would be little that could be exported. What little manufacturing was done was concentrated in Tokyo, Osaka and other major cities, not some backwater rural area. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2025, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-consumer-goods-marked-made-in-if-not-domestic/1013756/23 "2025-02-06T04:43:06Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > Without researching it I don’t know the exact numbers but my WAG is that in 1890 Japan’s industrial base was about 1% of that of the United States, and other than silk and a few other items, there would be little that could be exported. > > What little manufacturing was done was concentrated in Tokyo, Osaka and other major cities, not some backwater rural area. Thank you. That addresses the statements made by earlier posters: > [@OldGuy](#): > > 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 > [@Banksiaman](#): > > 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. So the town Usa is unlikely to have exported anything before country-based origins were used. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2025, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-consumer-goods-marked-made-in-if-not-domestic/1013756/24 "2025-02-06T05:02:05Z")
Not simply “unlikely”. For a whole bunch of reasons that would bore people to tears, it’s as close to “impossible” as you could get. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2025, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-consumer-goods-marked-made-in-if-not-domestic/1013756/25 "2025-02-06T13:39:59Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > > [@TokyoBayer](#): > > > > Yes, there is a city 宇佐市 Usa City. The name of the area 宇佐 Usa dates back over a century ago > > Were products made there ever labeled “MADE IN USA”? I don’t think I’ve every seen a product “Made in (city)”. The company name and city may be on the label - one of my nephews years ago had the joke that it seems everything was made in Dayton, OH - but generally, no. IIRC the labelling laws mandate country of origin. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2025, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-consumer-goods-marked-made-in-if-not-domestic/1013756/26 "2025-02-06T14:48:38Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > I don’t think I’ve every seen a product “Made in (city)”. The company name and city may be on the label - one of my nephews years ago had the joke that it seems everything was made in Dayton, OH - but generally, no. IIRC the labelling laws mandate country of origin. See @Banksiaman’s post : > [@Banksiaman](#): > > 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. So unless you were born a long time ago, you wouldn’t see that. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2025, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-consumer-goods-marked-made-in-if-not-domestic/1013756/27 "2025-02-06T14:52:45Z")
What about the cookware company named “Made In”? Their drawn aluminum pans and whatnot are stamped “MADE IN”, not followed by any place name. I just visited their web site, but a cursory scan, including visiting their History page, didn’t turn up a reason for their oddly used name. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2025, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-consumer-goods-marked-made-in-if-not-domestic/1013756/28 "2025-02-06T20:13:39Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > Sodastream would label their equipment “Product of Israel” despite it being made in Palestine in a West Bank factory. Sodastream is made in Beersheba, aka Be’er-Sheva. The city is part of Israel. > [@md-2000](#): > > I don’t think I’ve every seen a product “Made in (city)”. Coke glass Bottles are supposedly stamped with the name of the city the product was first bottled. Cecil did a column about that, in fact. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-consumer-goods-marked-made-in-if-not-domestic/1013756.md?page=1)