Free Republic

Henry Juszkiewicz, Chairman and CEO of Gibson Guitar Corp., has responded to the August 24 raid of Gibson facilities in Nashville and Memphis by the Federal Government. In a press release, Juszkiewicz said: “Gibson is innocent and will fight to protect its rights. Gibson has complied with foreign laws and believes it is innocent of ANY wrong doing. We will fight aggressively to prove our innocence.” The raids forced Gibson to cease manufacturing operations and send workers home for the day while armed agents executed the search warrants. “Agents seized wood that was Forest Stewardship Council controlled,” Juszkiewicz said. “Gibson has a...

An analysis just released by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco concludes that most of what Americans spend on consumer goods, electronics, clothing, sneakers and the like, stays in America. Surprisingly little comes from China after all. Say the authors: Goods and services from China accounted for only 2.7% of U.S. personal consumption expenditures (PCE) in 2010…Chinese imports make up only a small share of total U.S. consumer spending… Athough globalization is widely recognized these days, the U.S. economy actually remains relatively closed. The vast majority of goods and services sold in the United States is produced here. In...

US exports millions of chopsticks to China A shortage of chopsticks in China has become so acute that a US company has begun exporting millions of pairs to the country. By Nick Allen, Los Angeles 8:54PM BST 02 Aug 2011 Georgia Chopsticks, based in the southern state of Georgia, is producing two million sets of the traditional eating utensils each day. It is operating around the clock to keep up with demand and hopes to be exporting 10 million pairs a day by the end of the year, each set complete with a label marked "Made in USA." Amid a...

Ugh. Hong Kong's English daily South China Morning Post has a distinctly unsavory dispatch from the Chinese media this morning: Government scientists have released research that millions of acres of Chinese agricultural land and over 12 million tons of Chinese grain are contaminated by toxic metal pollution, according to this week's edition of the China Economic Weekly, a state-run magazine. Last week, a separate article reported that 10% of Chinese rice contained excess cadmium, a heavy metal known to cause cancer.

video only

This might be useful coming into the gift buying season.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- A debate is brewing at home and abroad over an economic stimulus measure that would require materials used in the program's infrastructure projects to be purchased from American companies. In the $819 billion House bill passed Wednesday, the so-called "Buy American" provision would, with some notable exceptions, ensure that only U.S.-produced iron and steel be used for construction. It expands on a 76-year-old federal law. The Senate, which is likely to take up stimulus next week, would go even further, effectively requiring that any products and equipment be American-made. "The Buy American provision will help stimulate...

The short story of how I won a $140 messenger bag from the "Why Buy Made In USA" blog, followed by me encouraging people to enter their weekly contest and win some cool stuff too.

Charlotte, N.C. - One thing the financial crisis shows is that the United States is in trouble because Americans have stopped making stuff. It used to be that we made a lot of stuff: televisions, clothes, washing machines, radios, typewriters, shoes, telephones, and furniture. And we also used to make the stuff out of which stuff was made: steel, aluminum, plastic, rubber, glass, and electrical components. Today that's largely made overseas. They send us their stuff and we send them our money. It also used to be that Americans liked to make stuff. Think of all the things Thomas Edison...

Should we accept endless Chinese products and the resulting trade deficits or is it possible we can return to the days when American-made products were in greater supply and easier to find? Todd Lipscomb, founder of www.MadeInUSAForever.com, thinks that even as multinationals continue to outsource there are many smaller companies that simply will not give up on America, and he believes some of these will become the next core of U.S. manufacturing. Let's certainly hope so. At www.MadeInUSAForever.com you'll find more than 500 American-made products to browse over, and there are plans to double the number of items in the...

Chinese tailors run their own race for the summer games - to get the U.S. team's official uniforms ready for the opening ceremony. In just over ten days, they need to deliver more than 1,800 of these Ralph Lauren designed outfits for the American team for the opening ceremony of the Olympics.

(Pabst touts ascent to No. 1 American-owned beer maker) Pabst Brewing Co. doesn’t operate breweries anymore, but it wants to be the first choice for every red-blooded American beer drinker. The company, which owns dozens of beer brands and contracts with MillerCoors LLC to create most of its brews, is staking its claim as the largest remaining American-owned beer maker. Just days after industry giant Anheuser-Busch Cos. announced its sale to InBev, a European brewer, Pabst is conducting an online survey, asking customers about it. “Did you know that after this sale is completed, Pabst Brewing Company will be the...

Welcome! to the Made in South Carolina website, an initiative of the South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance. Here you can easily identify products made by South Carolina companies and learn of the significant impact manufacturing plays in our daily lives. Some of the finest products used around the world are manufactured right here in our backyard. South Carolina, home of hundreds of manufacturing companies, supplies the world with a diverse assortment of goods and products that enhance our quality of life and provides high paying technical jobs to thousands of South Carolinians.

In the past 175 years, C.F. Martin & Co. defined the shape, construction and sound of the acoustic guitar. And the company still eyes each detail. Employees sweat the big things, like dwindling supplies of rare tone woods. They sweat the small stuff, like the exact orientation of each pick guard. The company is taking the year to celebrate C.F. Martin Sr.'s arrival in New York City in 1833 where he set up his first shop on Hudson Street at what is now the mouth of the Holland Tunnel. CEO Christian F. Martin IV said the anniversary is remarkable and...

Couple Launches American-Made Clothing Line By RoNEISHA MULLEN   John Hankerd and his wife have launched a new line of shirts made entirely in America and of American materials, called UESAY (pronounced U-S-A). (Photo by Katie Rausch)     OWOSSO, Mich. — Fed up with the declining Michigan economy and lack of available work, John Hankerd went into business for himself.And he vowed to help Americans retain jobs that are usually outsourced by selling only 100 percent American-made products in his new clothing label: UESAY, pronounced U-S-A.The 40-year-old Elsie, Mich., resident was once the manager of a Gateway computer retail...

Only half the machines are running at precision parts maker Hamill Manufacturing, nestled in the Allegheny Mountains just east of Pittsburgh, once the booming center of the U.S. steel industry. But the factory's overcapacity is the result not of a shortage of business – it has more orders than it can fill, despite a slowing U.S. economy – but because of a shortage of skilled workers --snip-- A separate study in 2005, the latest available, said 90 percent of manufacturers are suffering a moderate to severe shortgage of qualified workers. “The irony is we pay very well, we have good...

Holiday Shopping: Putting Our Money Where Our Mouth Is Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah FRiends! This is the time of year that is special because is engenders the spirit of giving and selflessness of its sacred origins. Each of us, in his or her own way, has a special place in our heart for this joyful time. As we put others' needs and desires first, as we look forward to the expression of surprise and delight on our loved ones' faces as they receive our gifts, as we peruse the ailes, let us consider the economic import of our duty. Some...

(HOLLISTER, Calif.) — Deborah Evanoff thought she'd traded her frantic Silicon Valley career for a lazier pace when she took over the low-tech toy company her parents founded in the late 1960s. Instead, she's ramping up Arrowcopter Inc.'s manufacturing operations and getting a record number of orders from retailers in 11 countries. More people are buying the slingshot-like gizmo, which starts at $4 and — as the packaging proudly proclaims — is made in the United States. As consumers look for alternatives to Chinese-made toys following a series of recalls this year, dozens of small toy companies are struggling to...

Toy stores and manufacturers are making it easier to find American-made products after scores of recalls have made some shoppers apprehensive of Chinese-made toys. Stores such as FAO Schwarz and Toys "R" Us have trained their employees about which products are made in the United States so that they can help customers, the companies say. FAO Schwarz also has labeled some of its American- and European-made toy sections in its stores. Its Web site allows shoppers to search for toys based on the country where they were made. And toy makers that manufacture their products in the United States, such...

States Move to Require U.S. Flags are Made in U.S.A. Tuesday, July 03, 2007 ROSEMOUNT, Minn. — At American Legion Post 65, visitors can drop off worn U.S. flags knowing they'll be disposed of with the proper respect. On their way out, they can buy a new 3-by-5 flag for $20 or a 4-by-6-footer for $30. Made in America, of course. "That's our flag. It belongs here in the United States; it should be made in the United States," Air Force veteran Bob Racette said while fingering a flag in a corner of the legion hall bar. By year's end,...