Posted on 07/24/2007 8:40:30 AM PDT by CHEE
If you are upset with the USA trade balance, as I am, then you may wish to check out some of the merchants on the Source URL.
The only time I’ve ever been to a Walmart was four years ago with my sister-in-law, and even then I could tell the merchandise was second rate junk. Didn’t know it all came from China back then. Now it all makes sense. Needless to say, I’ve never shopped there again.
I’d gladly pay a few extra bucks for better quality American made items.
It doesn’t bother me. Hell, the US can’t build everything at an affordable price.
“There are many times when I am actually trying to find something not made in China, and I can’t.”
Recently bought a huge floor fan for our Atrium and to our surprise it was actually made in Texas.
I discovered my electric chainsaw was made in USA also.
My gas chainsaw was “assembled” in USA, so I guess that’s close hunh.
WOW!
Yard Machines is owned by MTD, which is a global company (visit their website). The mower deck itself may have been made in the US, but all the other parts including the engine were probably made overseas. Also MTD doesn’t make their own engines, but buys them mostly from overseas.
bump
They list the USA, Canada, and Europe and that’s good enough for me.
Businesses are IN business to make a profit...how about government easing up on some of the more stupid environmental regulations that are on the books? And speaking of environmental regs, why haven't there been any now nuclear power plants built in this country? and how about more domestic drilling for oil? Cheaper energy means less costs for a business and more disposable income for consumers. WTF is so difficult to understand about all that?
Healthcare is cost to a business that eats away at profit. Why is that? We all know the answers, (at least on FR) why isn't something being done about it? How about sifting though and eliminating all the legal BS that drives up the cost for malpractice insurance, and eliminate all the gov bureaucracy dealing with HMO's. UGH. Property taxes, zoning, building fees, local ordinances...all add to the cost of business...ALL are added costs due to an intrusive government.
Guess what? If America was more business friendly (especially re: the cost of labor) then there would be more things made in the USA. After the government rapes my paycheck every 2 weeks, I'm only left with so much. If these things are not going to change...then I will continue to make my financial decisions based on price and value. If China wins out sometimes...so be it. I did NOTHING in my lifetime to make the costs for American businesses so bloated that we have to pay a former rice paddy farmers in China to make stuff for us.
One would think that this would be a HUGE marketing campaign(commercials, central website etc), as everyone I talk to trys to eschew Chinese goods.
Why the companies who make products here in the USA do not capitalize on this I have no idea.
I've noticed that a lot more of my produce at the grocery store is stickered . . . if people continue to prefer American produce over that of other countries, then there's no reason the trend should stop.
I also worry about food stuff coming from China.
Last year, I noticed the Kroger’s brand apple juice I purchased was stamped “apple juice concentrate from China”.
I thought, how is the apple juice concentrate coming from China? Is it being shipped over in tankers? In large vats? It just didn’t sound too appealing. I assumed if the apple juice were bottled in China the wording would be a bit different, I assume it would just say “Product of China” or something similar.
I made a point of checking other brands. Tree Top says “Concentrate from USA”. Other store brands, Safeway and Albertsons, sometimes say “Apple juice concentrate from China” and sometimes say nothing at all.
Since then, I have made a point to buy Tree Top apple juice, and to always check the country of origin. I try to check on any other packaged goods as well.
Though as the above posters noted, if one or several ingredients in a packaged product were made in China, and the product itself was manufactured in USA, only made in USA would show on the label.
My sentiments EXACTLY, although you expressed the more eloquently than I ever did.
I was in a fair sized “True Value” hardware store the other day. I asked the buyer to estimate what percentage of the products in the store were made in China. He thought for a few seconds and said “about 50%”.
Of all the crap found in hardware stores now, none angers me more than parts that used to be made in metal that are now made in plastic. Weak, easily broken, they strip...forget it.
I have never bought a non-U.S. badged car, but I would much rather buy a foreign badged item made by U.S. workers than a foreign made item distributed by U.S. sellouts.
Tree Top, Inc. is a cooperative. The grower/member/owner's orchards are in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. If you look directly on the container, you should see a Country of Origin statement. It should read, "Concentrate of USA". There have been occasions in the past that Tree Top was not going to have enough concentrate to last to the upcoming harvest and have blended with other concentrates, when they have had to blend it has been reflected in the country of origin statement.
One way to get an idea of the odds would be to take the total of textile (not apparel) imports and compare them to total domestic textile production. I suspect the odds wouldn't be as "good" as you believe.
SCARY
So, if we lowered our standard of living equivalent to that of China or India we'd be in much better shape?
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