Made In America (USA) Products

How - questions relating to how you can relate to Made In America

1. How do I find American Made Products?

   The first most obvious tip is to look at product labels. Find those 3 little words "Made in USA". Everyone forgets to do this sometimes, but if you make a conscience effort you will be able to increase your "Made In America (USA)" product spend. There are unscrupulous people that will tag products Made In America, when they are not. We can discuss why, and how much later.

   The next action you can take if you know what you want, is research the product, find a manufacturer and look at their retail location locator, assuming they have one. Product web sites all have Contact Us buttons, use them, or call the company. If you are planning to buy their product, they ought to be able to tell you where you can find their product.

2. How do you research the companies?

   I like to tell you to go to my web site at http://www.madeinamericaSC.com. On this site there is a LINK page that can take you to literally and honestly Millions of Products Made In America. The page is categorized by Products first, then Meta-Links which are Made In America Product search engines and directories (sounds like my competition, and that is another story too). By working together, the direct and Meta-links can take you to find the company that makes the product you want.

   If all else fails, you can use the Contact Us form at the site shown above and request a search for your product. Be sure to describe brand, sizes, colors, companies, etc. whatever information you have about the product.

Who - questions relating to Who can help you with Made In America

1. Who has American Products for people to buy?

   In this web site the Made In America - Links page has links direct to companies that make American products.  There are also links to other Web sites that serve as Search Engines for American Products.  Those companies have American Products.

   The other answer is if your are in America, go into the stores and look at the Manufacturers labels, which should tell you where the products were made.  Make this 'read the label process'  a habbit and our American Stores will be the answer to Who has American Products.

What - questions relating to What Made In America does for Americans

1. What is an American Made Product (with respect to raw materials, and assembly)?

   For the purpose of posting Company Web sites as Made In America, 51% of the value (combined raw materials and assembly labor) must be done in the United States.  This allows for Fair Trade in a Global economy. 

   However the Standard of Made in USA as set by the Federal Trade Comission can be found in the LINK page of thie site, by the above hyperlink, or at:  http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/usajump.shtm

2. What is Fair Trade?

   Historically speaking, in America, any law allowing manufacturers of brand-name or trademarked goods to fix the actual or minimum resale prices of these goods is known as Fair Trade.  Elsewhere this practice may be called 'price maintenance' .

   "Fair trade laws were passed by many of our United States during the Great Depression in an effort to protect independent retailers from price-cutting by large chain stores and consequent loss of employment in distributive trades, but most were later repealed at the state level. Critics argued that such laws restricted competition; the complexity of post-World War II marketing channels also made enforcement impracticable. In 1975 the few that remained in existence were repealed by an act of Congress."  re:  Answers.com

   For the purpose of Made In America (USA) Products web site, Fair Trade is not a law but a common sense of civic duty to spend where you live first.  Luxury products, electronics, and many other goods that only come from off America's shores should still be purchased so we encourage other contries to purchase our products also.  When we come to know (and we can find out) that a Country has high import taxes to exclude forgien products (ours in their country), we should limit our purchases of their products and enact equal import taxes on their products here.  Makes sense to me anyway.

Why - questions relating to Why can Made In America help, why buy American, etc.

1. Why should I buy American Made Products?

   First I will assume you are an American asking that questions.  This is a global site.  To keep and increase jobs in America, Americans need to spend money on products made in america becasue the money spent stays in America, and goes to the company making the product.  If you spend every dollar you make on overseas products, that money that is keeping a factory, or store open in America is not available.  If you increase your spending, the Companies and Stores in America have more money to employ Americans.  For this to be effective, all Americans need to spend more money on American products and sustain that habit of buying American when they can.  The more Americans that do this, the more jobs in America.  The following are 15 Reasons to Buy American Products:

   1. A Vision for Americas Future, based on the Past and Present
   2. America’s Economy Past, Present, Future; this includes money, currency, land ownership, and other economic considerations
   3. American Jobs, Loss of American Jobs (Manufacturing and Service)
   4. American Worker and Product Safety Standards versus Foreign
   5. American Quality
   6. Environmental Concerns Healthy Planet, Healthy Lives Energy Consumption
   7. Fair and Free Trade
   8. Fair Wages, Honest Pay for an Honest Day’s Work
   9. Independence, Homeland Security, Self Sufficiency, and the Affect of a Lack of Manufacturing Ability
   10. Offshoring Pain Points, which include communication of specifications, establishing chain of command, and more.
   11. Product Testing and Compliance, Regulatory and non-Regulatory
   12. The Quality of American Life
   13. Time to Market, Shipping Costs, Affects of these costs on prices and the environment
   14. Trade Deficit, and Sustainable Trade
   15. US versus Foreign Tax, and Import / Export Law

   If you are not an American, consider that American Products are high quality made by craftsman that have been honing their products for many years.  There are products available in America that are not easily found in other parts of the world.  We are a unique country, and you should buy American products because we buy your products!

2. Is there a ruling or any literature regarding this 51% made in U.S.A. I can kind of understand it, if that company is bringing jobs into our economy and hiring people but how do i know as a consumer?

   There is no ruling that I use, just my own logic.  Our country can support receiving foreign goods to the extent that we can export, including the cost of raw materials.  It seems unrealistic to believe in today’s world that we could expect 100% American products on everything, which lead the question ‘where do you draw the line’? 

    

   For this Made In America (USA) website I decided that a partnership in global trade can only help America if it is fair.  In any partnership a nearly equal arrangementis required for fairness.  The Fair Trade Act would be the one ‘regulatory’ ruling that would support this position.  However, I don’t base my decision on the wordsof that document, but on the words in every major religion on earth, ‘do unto others as you would have them do unto you’.   This golden rule is the foundation of my belief in personal and business relationships.  I hope this answers your question, it is the only explanation that I have.

    

   All of that said, most of the products that are listed in the LINK page are 100% American Made.  I try to find out from each company or product what their percentage is by email or phone calls.  If I cannot find out, I do not list the products.  Thank you for your outstanding question.

When - questions relating to time about Made In America products

1. Should I buy American products for Christmas Presents?

   That is a great idea.  However, don't stop at Christmas, you should buy American Products all year long - that will sustain our American products, manufacturers, and workers.

Where - questions relating to Where products are Made In America

1. Where should I look to find unique products that I know other contries make and I see in stores, but I want to buy the same thing Made In America?

   You should research using this web site at the Made In America - Links page.  You will be taken to other sites, and those sites will either have your products or allow you to use their 'search engines' to find the product you are looking for.

   Click this for a Yahoo Search for PRODUCT SEARCH ENGINES.

2. Is there a website or anywhere to go to that will detail more the requirements for someone to quality for made in U.S.A. if their products are not actually "made" here?

   Your question is a good one, and yes there are sites that Certify American products as 100%.  You will find some websites listed in my LINK page in the second category (directories).  Outside of knowing that they are American, the Quality might be found in consumer product ratings. 

   For cars, you can find what percent American cars are at The Cars.com American-Made Index , which is aresult of the American Automobile Labeling Act, enacted in 1994, and mandates display of the percent a car is Made In America.