Buying American finally made easy

[Dixie Flyer]

Buying American finally made easy
Guide lists thousands of manufacturers who still make it in USA


WASHINGTON – Would you be willing to pay a little extra for goods made in the USA?

Join the club.

Polls show a majority of Americans willing to do the same.

And with China charging Americans to ship its hazardous materials to line the shelves of Walmart, Roger Simmermaker thinks he has the answer – a guide to buying American.

"How Americans Can Buy American: The Power of Consumer Patriotism" is hot off the press, providing tips and listing thousands of retail outlets owned by Americans as well as manufacturers still operating in the U.S.

If you think Americans no longer care about where goods are made or have concerns about safety of foreign products, think again. Simmermaker has assembled some surprising statistics:

92 percent of Americans want country-of-origin labels on meat and produce;

68.6 percent of Americans check labels for information like manufacturer, nation of origin and ingredients – up from 52.9 percent a year ago;

86.3 percent of Americans would like to block Chinese imports until they raise their product and food safety standards to meet U.S. levels;

33 percent of Americans would be willing to pay four times as much for American-made toys;

63 percent were willing to join a boycott of Chinese-made goods in general

"Supporting American companies leads to a more independent America," says Simmermaker. "Ownership equals control, and control equals independence. We cannot claim to be an independent country or control our own destiny if our manufacturing base is under foreign ownership or foreign control. A nation that cannot supply its own needs is not an independent nation. If we are to claim independence from the rest of the world and truly be a sovereign nation, we must begin supplying our own needs once again."

Yet, in the age of the global village, knowing which company is American and which is not can be quite confusing. Simmermaker has made it easy – listing companies and their nation of ownership.

Consumer decisions, Simmermaker argues, allow Americans to vote every single day of their lives – making important decisions about their own future and the future of their country when they shop.

[brettweir]

AMEN

[Dean in Eureka, CA]

That's good to hear... sure hope we can turn it around before it's too late.
I am an optimist, but I gotta admit... Very pessimistic when it comes to our government.

[satch]

My girlfriend bought some garlic the other day, when I went to use it, there was a "product of china" label on it. GARLIC!! CHINA???. What's this country becoming? I mean, garlic?

[MrgrumpyNJ]

I always check were watever im buying is made, but it is getting difficult to find that ever so elusive made in USA.
I had a reality check when I went to the lumber store and almost all the wood was stamped made in china Im sorry but that is just insane.

Don

[asianflava]

What percentage of people don't realize that some "imports" are more American than their "American" counterparts?

My Toyota Tundra is 74% domestic. Assembled in Texas and Indiana. Engines from Alabama and transmissions from North Carolina.

Dodge Ram? assembled in Mexico.

[angib]

I think you have to distinguish between two different ideas:
- what people say they would do;
- what they actually do when it comes to it.

It is only when getting people to part with actual hard cash that you find out the truth - everything up till then is just wishful thinking.

If Toys'R'Us found that people were actually willing to pay four times as much for American-made toys (and they made four times as much margin), wouldn't they sell them?

Andrew

[Mary K]

I have to agree with Andrew. If I am looking at a product that is $5, and the other is $20....depending on quality, I'm buying the $5 product. I have to save money for gas.

Mk

[dreadcptflint]

Unfortunately, I will have to disagree with Roger Simmermaker as most Americans not read the labels, they read the price tags. It is a little sad because it is just like the loss of conection of the stretched wrapped hamburger in the grocery store with the farmer.

Case in point is the Apple Juice industry, most people have been drinking concentrate from China for years.

Don't believe me then you might want to check out: http://www.freshplaza.com/news_detail.asp?id=12853. I happen to work for one of the companies in the article and was disgusted with them when they anounced going to Chinese concentrate. The company even 'mothballed' a local manufacturing plant laying off around a 100 employees


If I need my apple juice fix then I stick with local, small presses.

[satch]

I agree, price is a factor with anything peaple buy, but garlic from china? That's wrong ( yes I'm still stuck on the garlic )

[grant whipp]

Now ya see ...

... that's what happens when you put Wall Street bean counters and greedy self-serving CEOs in charge of corporate America, and start cow-towing to investors and stockholders who keep demanding ridiculous returns on their money ... the bottom line becomes more about huge profits and tax writeoffs than it does about building up, maintaining, and strengthening the infrastructure that made America great in the first place.

I'd love to buy only American-made goods - I try to at every given chance - but when the companies that produce/provide the goods that I need "sell out" to the lowest bidder so they can increase their profit margin by buying from foreign producers/providers, what choice do I have?

And, isn't it ironic that the people from whom they have reaped the biggest profit are also the very people thay have displaced by shipping their jobs overseas? Has anyone noticed that they've profited from us twice? Once when they layed you off (I'm sorry - downsized your position), and then again when you have to buy the very product you used produce from the company you used to work for, now made in some foreign country for a quarter of what it was produced for here, and sold to us for 10% more than it was last year. Does anybody else think that is some kind of twisted logic?

Oooopppssss! Started to rant, again didn't I ... ...?

We really do need to pay more attention to where the items we buy are made, and if at all economicaly possible, buy American-made. Start by getting your produce at the farmers' market, buying your meat from the local butcher, and getting your building materials from the local independent lumberyard ... then get some clothes from a local seamstress, buy some toys from a local craftsman, and well, you get the idea. Think nationally, act rationally ... if we all do our own small part, we can make a sizeable difference ... if we really want to, and have the courge to do the right thing ...

CHEERS!

Grant

[Kurt (Indiana)]

I am certainly in favor of buying American products and would pay more if I knew it would be a vein effort by a very small number of consumers.

If I ever get the ambition to build another Teardrop, it will be interesting to build it using "all American" parts, wood, paint, etc.

I've thought of a great name too. "The All-American Teardrop". Not to be confused with Doug's "American Tear" of course.

I think I'll start by compiling a list of materials that can be found locally (or somewhere) that are made in the USA. This might be quite a challenge but it should be interesting.

Maybe it would be a good project for the forum, who knows?

Any comments?

[bobhenry]

It sounds great but what a bunch of hipocrits. Here we are with our chinese trailer frames and our canadian plywood floor and our taiwanise door hardware and our lights assembled in mexico towing with our japanese cars. 40 years ago this dream might have been possible but there is no way to even know. I dare to guess those of you who welded up your own "All american " Frame would be shocked to find out that the square tube you welded your frame from is most likely chinese steel.
Why do you think Gage is towing a 30 something kit rebuild with a 56 ford pickup He is a true American and these 50+ year old vehicles may well have been the last true all American products.

[satch]

I didn't even know the chinese grew garlic.

[Mary K]

I didn't even know the chinese grew garlic.