This is, of course, aimed at the US citizens on the board…if you’re from another country, please change the question accordingly.
If there are several similarly priced, similarly featured products, do you seek out the American made one?
for example: I went and bought a mailbox yesterday, there were 3 of them, all looked the same and were within $2 of each other. I read all the boxes and bought the American made one, even though it was in the middle of the price range.
I did the same thing when I bought my dinnerware, silverware, and most household goods.
My friends think I’m nuts that I sit there and read the boxes.
I don’t care where its made. I buy the best value for the money. I am a believer in the “world economy”, and that all consumption of goods will benefit someone, somewhere.
But my first concern is always me and my family. As I type this, the wife is out spending boatloads of money for new furniture for my kid. I imagine she’ll bring stuff from all over the world home tonight.
Besides, if everyone “bought American”, those poor teemsters unloading container ships would be out of work! Who wants that?
If there’s a low price difference, and the made in USA label is prominent then maybe. I also like to encourage competition by buying lower priced items. I don’t think that it’s impossible for American companies to compete with 3rd world companies in certain markets. We just need to exploit the particular advantage we might have in that situation.
I always thought that the greatest thing about America was, that we get the insight and intellect of people that choose to move here, thereby increasing our collective knowledge. Collaboration is not only a good thing, it’s often the best way to solve a problem.
For a long time, I DID go out of my way to buy American-made goods… but it’s gotten so difficult to do so, over the past few years, I’ve been forced to give up. No matter how hard one looks, nowadays, it’s often IMPOSSIBLE to find American-made products.
If there’s a low price difference, and the made in USA label is prominent then maybe.
Ditto.
I wouldn’t buy something just to be buying American, though. A good example would be a car. If I’m gonna drop serious money on something I’m going to buy the best I can afford. If what I want turns out to be an American car, great. If not, screw it. I’m not going to subject myself to numerous breakdowns on the freeway just so some union fatcat can line his pockets with the union dues of the working stiff, and just so I can feel patriotic.
I tend to be cynical about whether something is made in America anyway. Not only because once upon a time Wal-Mart advertised that many things they sold were so, but because I once worked at a prominent suitcase company that used that phrase right on their logo. The truth was that all the materials and hardware were manufactured in Asia or Mexico and then shipped to us to be made into suitcases. Years later, they finally took “Made in America” off their logo but it’s left me with a lingering suspicion when I see it on other products. Unfortunately.
So, it would depend on whether a product proclaiming that is sufficiently cheaper that similar products for me to buy it. It wouldn’t have to be the cheapest though, just reasonably cheaper compared to the other stuff.
I don’t think I’ve ever once considered what nation something was manufactured in before I bought it. I guess I don’t really see a huge difference between a bunch of factory workers I don’t know and will never meet in Tennessee, and a bunch of factory workers I don’t know and will never meet in Taiwan.
I don’t go very far out of my way. I’ll occassionally pay more for an American product of equal quality, but will not suffer an American product of equal cost but inferior quality.
I think the difference is that the if factory stiff in question lives in TN, then they’re going to be earning a paycheck in the US and helping the rest of shoulder the tax burden for government goods and services. (Of course it’s much more complex than that, but this isn’t a thread on globalization or the effect of outsourcing jobs on the US economy)
There is also another potential difference, depending on where in the rest of the world said product is made. If you want to try to avoid buying products made in places where workers are routinely exploited, you are porbably less likely to buy “tainted goods” if you buy American (or European or Japenese).
I don’t bother looking to see where a particular product was made unless it’s supposed to be some sort of specialty item that’s made specifically in that country, America included.
No. I believe in Globalization. Plus US products cost a lot. Although I guess you could say I go pretty far out of my “to buy in America” and will be boosting the economy of Hotlanta pretty soon…
At this point in time in this country, both business and our government as currently constituted are preaching the gospel of unfettered capitalism. That’s a two-way street, or should be. It’s completely incompatible with the “buy American” philosophy, which has become nothing more than an advertising slogan.
If I choose to buy an American car, for example, there’s a good chance, at least in the compact market, that I’m buying a vehicle largely made outside the US, or at least made up of components manufactured outside the US and then assembled here. If I buy a Honda (which is undoubtedly a much better car than anything in the same price range offered by Detroit), it’s quite likely to have been made in Honda’s Marysville, Ohio plant, by US workers who take their paychecks home and contribute to the local economy.
If American companies don’t believe in hiring American workers and doing their manufacturing here, why should I bother about buying American? It’s a one-way street.
I try to, but often forget until I flip over a product I just bought and find the old familiar, “Made in China” label.
What is more important to me, and what I put more effort into is shopping local. I don’t eat in a franchised restaurant if there’s a good local mom-n-pop available right down the street. Same with shopping in general which is why I rarely buy anything in a mall. However, there is no locally owned five and dime or discount store, so I’m forced to shop at Target. There is no locally owned hardware store (the last hold out went out of business a couple years ago), so I’m forced to shop at Home Depot or Lowe’s. There is no locally owned grocery store, so I at least keep it in Florida and shop at Publix.
I firmly believe the personal is political and every choice I make with my dollar is the same as a vote.
At the same time, I refer to the Honda example above: there’s no way to know what is really made in America or merely assembled in America. And while I’m all for a global economy and competition and all that, I’m also for keeping local dollars local wherever possible. It’s a fine line to walk so I don’t put a lot of mental effort into being an activist as a shopper, but if there’s a reasonable close-to-home choice to make, all other considerations being equal, I’ll go with American, Floridian, or Tallahassee-made.
I buy the best I can afford with almost no regard for where it’s manufactured.
If I make a conscious decision to ‘buy American’, it is based on quality, cost and/or convenience, not blind loyalty. Occassionally, dealing with products from ‘overseas’ can be a hassle, even though the product is better… or maybe comparable but cheaper.
An example would be wood supplies. You can get some good woods shipped from Europe, but when building something, I want stuff ASAP, so that I can work it into my schedule.
Sometimes, style comes into play. I am terribly loyal to American furniture, especially well constrcuted furniture from the better makers in North Carolina and even New England. But that crosses over from style into ‘craftsmanship’, where their is a steeped American Tradition that - well think about it - is exclusively American.
This is an interesting and important point, i think. Anyone who preaches the idea of free trade and global capitalism really has no place trying to appeal to soome sort of unreflective patriotism when trying to sell products.
I think, however, that when the OP asked if you buy American, it was not referring to where the company itself is located, but where the product is actually made. So, as you point out, for the purpose of this thread it’s actually quite difficult to define many “American” cars (GM, Ford, Chrysler) as American. Similarly, while The Gap might be an American company, i believe that most of the clothing found in Gap stores is made overseas. I wouldn’t consider buying such a product to be “Buying American.”
For myself, i would like to be able to buy all my goods from companies that pay their workers a decent wage–no matter where on earth that company happens to be located. For me it’s less about location than it is about reasonable pay and humane working conditions. Unfortunately, i can’t always afford to make what i believe would be the right choice.
The last time i specifically bought an American-made product rather than an imported one was a few weeks ago, when i purchased a new pair of cross trainers. I bought a pair of New Balance shoes, and the pair that i bought was “Made in the US from imported materials.” Some NB shoes are put together overseas, but their higher-end shoes are made in factories in Massachusetts and Maine. I found a pair on sale.
Since most of what I buy is used , I am buying American, in a round about way.
I try to buy locally first and help the smaller mom and pop businesses who know their stuff and have been around forever. I buy where I live when I can, which would be groceries, cars, appliances.
Then I move the circle outwards and buy out of our 20 mile range to bigger stores. This would be tools and clothing.
Then internet (Amazon & Ebay)gets a bulk of my book and toy purchases, so somewhere along the way I am buying American or the profits go to an American.
As I type this, the wife is out spending boatloads of money for new furniture for my kid. I imagine she’ll bring stuff from all over the world home tonight.