How Exactly DO You Get 'Made in the USA' Goods?

It is hard to find solid "Made in the USA" goods. Go to any store, and you cannot easily do this. Goods are from other places all the time. Yes, it is difficult to find "Made in the USA" products in your house or at the store. Sure, the United States manufactures stuff like medical equipment, airplanes, movies, pharmaceuticals and agricultural products, but still, all this means is that we are barely caught up to the rest of the world. We need to set up "Made in the USA" goods to beat other countries.

Buying "Made in the USA" creates jobs, besides helping out our economy. We need to compete with the rest of the world. While some, like David Reich, the former Secretary of Labor in 2009 felt that “manufacturing jobs are never coming back,” if we make sure to show interest in made in the USA goods, we will be able to fight this. There is a difference between “Made in the USA” and “Made in America”. "Made in America" means that objects are manufactured in the US as well as Canada or Mexico, as a result of NAFTA.

“Made in the USA,” means that the good was made in the United States exclusively. Something “Assembled in the USA” means that the product was assembled in the United States, but not made in the United States. “Made in the USA” is what you are looking for, to tell you that product really is domestic. The sticker will say it all when you find that sticker. Sometimes, however, there will be false stickers or misspelled words such as “flagg.”

Consumers need to be careful with how they choose “Made in the USA” products. You have to figure out the country of origin, as well as shop in a responsible manner because not everything you look at will be “Made in the USA.” Manufacturing in the United States is expensive, however, and that is why this isn’t always done anymore. Sure, the United States imports. According to a post on Quora, there are 250,000 manufacturing plants, of which they are 96%, are family-owned, small companies with 100 employees or less. You have to be careful because many goods that are labeled “Made in the USA,” are actually made in China.

Simply put, “Made in the USA,” means that the product was made in the 50 states or District of Columbia. A “Country of Origin,” mark is supposed to be put on all imported goods. Companies such as GE Appliances, and Whirlpool are “Made in the USA.” So is Apple, based out of Cupertino, CA. Troy-Bilt is in Valley-City, Ohio. US goods naturally cost a bit more than their foreign counterparts. Americans want "Made in the US" goods but do not want to pay more, sadly. It would seem that nobody wants to make an effort to pay more, and with that in mind, companies do not want to charge people less.

Since the 1990s, there has been a steady decline of American made goods because of U.S. companies moving their factories from the United States to either China or Mexico, depending on where labor is cheaper. If the labor were done in the United States, we would have a much stronger economy. A Consumer Reports 2015 survey found that 80 percent of Americans would like to buy “Made in the USA” goods. Some jobs desperately need to be saved or created by this desire. Foreign goods have to be shipped, so American-made goods look to reduce the carbon footprint. Many companies overseas wind up violating health codes in the United States from hazardous products that have to be recalled. Human rights abuses permeate a toxic manufacturing environment. If we are going to improve working conditions in the United States, then products should be bought from inside the United States. This is the only way to preserve our ability to produce real products.

Works Cited:

ABC News

Consumer Reports

Money Crashers

Today

Quora