The thread title is the question: increasingly, outside of groceries and building supplies, it’s becoming well nigh impossible to find anything that’s still made in the United States, much less a developed country. The straw that drive me to ask this question was that all the ladders – a bulky, heavy, fairly low-cost item that would presumably be expensive to ship – in stock at Home Depot were made in China.
If I went to … oh, a Carrefour store in France, would everything be made in China? How about Kmart or Bunnings Warehouse in Australia? Real in Germany? Is the “everything is made in China” phenomenon limited to the US?
Dunno about big stuff like ladders. Most of that is probably still local. However, for everything else, the answer is “yes”.
It’s funny how you get nostalgic for when cheap stuff was made in Japan!
Pretty much everything over here, too, unless you go to one of them high-end furniture places where everything’s Italian or Swedish.
Generally, though, Made in China is at the lower end of the price list, as I’m sure it would be anywhere else.
“Here” is Hong Kong, by the way.
Just a reminder to myself: it seems like the majority of large appliances – “white goods” – are made in the US, but there’s some European stuff at the high end, and Haier is getting into the act. Of course, lots of cars and trucks are made in the US; no Chinese vehicles on US roads yet except some scooters.
yes, but then i live in china.
I was surprised in France this summer by finding certain things that weren’t made in China – like kids’ beach toys and shoes – that here in the States would definitely have been Chinese made. That said, I did see plenty of Chinese-made stuff in France – at Carrefour specifically.
That’s funny. I always assumed all ladders were made in Lynn, Mass.