Buying American...

[TampaSupremo]

Ok, aside from cigars...

How often do you make the choice of buying American-made over foreign imports or at least try to find an American-made alternative to whatever it is you are buying? I've been trying to do this for the past few years and while some things are pretty much hopeless (tech stuff, etc), I've found that there are more made in USA goods out there than I realized. To me it just seems that we owe it to ourselves to buy American if we can (assuming comparable quality and a non-prohibvitive price difference). Not trying to start a debate here, I'm just trying to get an idea of numbers.

TampaSupremo

 

[Rod]

I try to buy American every chance I get.

 

[joshmickelson]

i have been more and more convicted about this lately. it is rather hard to apply, but I think we as Americans need to support our domestic economy more.

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

When it comes to custom car or jeep parts (bumpers, armor, parts etc) I always make sure I do my best to buy from a smaller American manufacturer.

 

[alexgtp]

Very hard to fin 100% American made things. With it being a global economy and everything being outsourced. I think if it helps support the American Worker than I would purchase said product. While I would like 100% of the profits to stay in the USA, I'm not so naive to think it will. I know some of the profits will stay in the USA to help fund other ventures in the US, give more jobs to US workers.

Here are some decent resources to 100% American Made products.

http://www.stillmadeinusa.com/
http://www.madeinusa.org/

 

[in2xshp]

I do try to uy as many American Made products as possible, I also drive American Cars and Trucks ( Ford Super Duty and Dodge Durango).

 

[LOCAL669]

I am a big union man, I have made my families life throw the union!! A big belief is be American, buy American!! Just my .02.

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

I do try to uy as many American Made products as possible, I also drive American Cars and Trucks ( Ford Super Duty and Dodge Durango).

You sure they're actually American?

My Dodge Magnum was built in Canada...

 

[moki]

Ok, aside from cigars...

How often do you make the choice of buying American-made over foreign imports or at least try to find an American-made alternative to whatever it is you are buying? I've been trying to do this for the past few years and while some things are pretty much hopeless (tech stuff, etc), I've found that there are more made in USA goods out there than I realized. To me it just seems that we owe it to ourselves to buy American if we can (assuming comparable quality and a non-prohibvitive price difference). Not trying to start a debate here, I'm just trying to get an idea of numbers.

TampaSupremo

Never. I buy things based on what I want/need, and what I think is the best quality product. Buying American just for the sake of buying American products simply rewards poor products, and businesses who put out products that can't compete on the global stage.

That said, if two products are equally good, I wouldn't have a problem giving my money to the American company in preference to a foreign company. However if a foreign made product is better or more in line with what I want, I will not offer corporate welfare to an American company and reward mediocrity just because that company is American.

Doing so would actually be to the detriment of that company, IMHO. We need to compete on the global market.

One other thing to consider is that it often doesn't matter if you buy American or not, in terms of who makes the product. American companies outsource manufacturing to other countries, because wages are more competitive in said countries. The USA is a more modern, information and expertise-based economy, so many products you buy -- despite being manufactured by a foreign company -- are actually benefitting American companies.

Perfect example. OLED displays were invented by Kodak. Kodak has licensed this technology to a number of companies such as Sony, Samsung, etc. Buying something that uses an OLED screen puts money in the coffers of a US company, and rewards our knowledge and expertise-based economy.

As has been pointed out in this thread already, the world is has become quite intertwined, so it's actually fairly difficult to sort out how/when your dollars rewards whom. I say "don't worry about it" and let the free market naturally reward/punish companies of all nationalities, based on the quality of their products.

 

[amateuraficionado]

Ok, aside from cigars...

How often do you make the choice of buying American-made over foreign imports or at least try to find an American-made alternative to whatever it is you are buying? I've been trying to do this for the past few years and while some things are pretty much hopeless (tech stuff, etc), I've found that there are more made in USA goods out there than I realized. To me it just seems that we owe it to ourselves to buy American if we can (assuming comparable quality and a non-prohibvitive price difference). Not trying to start a debate here, I'm just trying to get an idea of numbers.

TampaSupremo

Never. I buy things based on what I want/need, and what I think is the best quality product. Buying American just for the sake of buying American products simply rewards poor products, and businesses who put out products that can't compete on the global stage.

That said, if two products are equally good, I wouldn't have a problem giving my money to the American company in preference to a foreign company. However if a foreign made product is better or more in line with what I want, I will not offer corporate welfare to an American company and reward mediocrity just because that company is American.

Doing so would actually be to the detriment of that company, IMHO. We need to compete on the global market.

Well said Moki. I probably don't buy American as much as I should or would like to as I don't often give much thought to where a product is made as I do the quality of the product I am purchasing. I would certainly make a conscious decision to purchase an American made product of equal quality to one made abroad. With that said and having owned my fair share of automobiles, I have more than likely bought my last American car!!!

 

[Aeroscott]

I do try to uy as many American Made products as possible, I also drive American Cars and Trucks ( Ford Super Duty and Dodge Durango).

You sure they're actually American?

My Dodge Magnum was built in Canada...

Mostly American Parts, the sticker says like 70% US and 30% other or something like that if I remember right, I work at a Dodge dealer and yeah a lot of them are put together in Canada.
Edited to add, the first number of the VIN will tell you the country. 1 is US, 2 is Canada, 3 is Mexico ect....

 

[Dadster1960]

While I try, I'm not fanatic about it. Pretty much the same way I patronize local business. All things being equal, I'll walk to the smoke shop or the car parts stores on Main St. (no, really, they are on Main St.! ) and I will even pay a small premium from the privilege.

As far as cars go... I was sorely disappointed when I decided to "buy American" a few years (ok, maybe 14 or so) and plunked extra cash for a Plymouth minivan, only to find a Mitsubishi engine under the hood. I don't have a car now, but my wife drives an import and my kid an Olds.

The truth of it is, we live in a global economy, and it's very hard to buy purely American. Also the shift from a manufacture based economy in the US to a service based economy started a long time ago, and just now we are beginning to see the deeper implications of this. I still remember feeling badly when Zenith closed down all manufacturing plants in the US and so the last American made TVs were history.

The conundrum for me always is "Do I buy an import for less money (ie: better value) or an "American" made good and Conglomo Inc. pockets the premium when I buy it because the parts, mechanisms, sub assemblies were outsourced to another country?"

I'll shut up now.

 

[ilcchef2]

I will never buy anything BUT an American made car, although most of my cigars are imported...

 

[TampaSupremo]

I'll be the first to go on record stating that yes, I drive a foreign pickup (Nissan-however, it was built in Mississippi). If I were to buy a mah-jong set or Chinese dominoes (the long black ones with red and white dots) I would buy Chinese-made ones. If I want a comal (a flat pan used to cook tortillas and roast peppers) I would buy a Mexican one. I own a CZ-83 pistol that I would not trade in for 10 Hi-Point .45's. I won't sacrifice quality just to have a US-made product. But think about how many everyday items we purchase without even looking at where they are from-pens, toys, plastic lawn furniture, glassware, socks, etc. Things that you buy knowing that it's just a throwaway or at best, something that you will have to replace within a year. I don't have figures in front of me, but I imagine that they add up to a substantial amount. What I have found in having this discussion at work is that people buy what is cheapest without looking to see where it was made or comparing quality (that being said, I admit that I have a middle-class salary job (depending on what your definition of "middle-class" is) so it may be more of a factor in my salary band).

I know the economy is in a downturn, but we are still, by far one of (if not the) richest countries in the world. But if something truly catastophic occurred where we were politically, economically, or physically isolated, would we be able to re-tool and get our manufacturing up to levels where we did not have to rely on other countries for necessities?

Plus, there's something kind of sad about something as quintessentially American as Levi's jeans being made somewhere other than the U.S.

Disclaimer: I do believe in a free-market, profit-driven system. Outsourcing service and manufacturing is likely a direct cause of this. Maybe this whole thread is just a lament for an impossible desire. Maybe I'm nostalgic for a time in which I did not live or which probably never existed.

TampaSupremo

 

[moki]

Tampa, no need to be sad. Would you rather be the country that innovates new technologies, and designs products, or the one that manufactures products based on other people's ideas and other people's designs?

 

["K"]

I don't, at least consciously.

I don't even think about where the product is made when I make a purchase. Thats irrational, and I do not like to generalize.

Like that guy up there said, whichever product is in my price range and checks out to my scrutiny, is the product I purchase. If its American, then woohoo... total coincidence, if not... then whatever.
I guess I'm commie scum, and the terrorists have won.

 

[in2xshp]

I do try to uy as many American Made products as possible, I also drive American Cars and Trucks ( Ford Super Duty and Dodge Durango).

You sure they're actually American?

My Dodge Magnum was built in Canada...

Mostly American Parts, the sticker says like 70% US and 30% other or something like that if I remember right, I work at a Dodge dealer and yeah a lot of them are put together in Canada.
Edited to add, the first number of the VIN will tell you the country. 1 is US, 2 is Canada, 3 is Mexico ect....

The way i look at it it is more American than Honda, Toyota or Nissan.

 

[MadMonk]

I buy what I percieve to be the best value and performance, i.e. at the point where paying more gets very little improvement i.e., the point of diminishing returns. A lot of American made products utilize components from all over the world.
One of my loves is high end stereo. America probably put out the highest quantity of top notch high end stereo components in the world. A cottage insustry, but one where we have an enviable prescence.

 

[Devil Doc]

As long as it doesn't come From Wal-Mart...

Doc.

 

[tone-ny]

I buy all my produce from local farmers and try to get all my meat and poultry the same way.

Other stuff is too hard to buy and as Andrew pointed out, the quality issue is a big one.