How much is Made in the USA worth to you?

[tpack]

I have said for a long time that it all started when Walmart went over seas over 30 years ago. It was like putting a Frog in a boiling pot of water. They used to have "Made in the USA" banners in their stores in the 80`s, but they sold us out and people just kept on shopping there while smaller grocers, mom and pop stores and other long time profitable retailers closed shop and laid off employees. Companies followed behind them to China just to compete or go out of business. Everyone liked cheap consumer goods until it was too late and there was no going back.

[IowaHunter]

Problem is US companies are measured on profits. Cheaper foreign product can equal larger profit margins. Therefore, let’s buy it overseas

[Hotrodd]

Usa.

[Jtrage]

As said above, how many are made in the USA or just assembled. Plus, add in all the “boycotts” of USA manufactures/companies that are on the other side, how do you figure out what to buy?


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[C.W.Ashby]

Made in USA, no doubt

[175gr7.62]

How much is Made in the USA worth to you?

Like it or not, we live in a global economy. There is nobody who loves this country more than I do…..I’ve bled for it.

Unless you are doing specialty back yard stuff you can’t run a competitive business if you stand on Made In USA.

Your patriotic spirit doesn’t mean sheet when your business folds because your competitors are selling for less because their COGS is less.

There is some crappy stuff that comes out of China. You solve that by hiring someone to go over there and make sure it isn’t crappy. They are are running the same machines as we are for 40-70% less labor cost.

If your product has a chip or uses electricity it ain’t made in the USA, sorry to tell you that.

People like to beech about paying a high school dropouts $15/hr to scoop fries at McDonalds because that task is only worth $7.25. Why should I pay for a machined part that has $75/hr of Union overhead built in when I can get the exact same part with $16/hr of overhead built in from China? My competition buys the cheaper part.

We all love capitalism until it comes to a global economy…..especially when it comes to trades. Do you pay a top tig hand $65/hr plus all the overhead for a part when you can get the exact same quality from China for $6/hr? Like it or not, They can weld just as good as a Texas boy.

Say you own a business that runs a concrete crew and you normally charge $7/ft….that’s what everyone charges. I someone else comes in and can do the work for $4.50/ft your work is no longer worth $7 regardless of what you think.

We had this conversation at the office a couple of weeks ago. Me and partners are all engineers and we are all into building our own precision rifles. It’s not rocket science compared to what we do with satellites. We currently buy 38” long precision reamed stainless tubing from China with straight internal grooves for EHF waveguide. We have to hold 0.0002” TIR on the ID for the full length and 0.0001” on the internal diameter. We pay $47 each for them. We are allowed a 10% dimension variance from -40C to 100C temperature.

We could increase the OD and have the same company make rifle barrels for a unit cost of about $85. Bartlein can’t make barrels that precise. Do we flood the market with $125 barrels?? If we decide to, Bartlein barrels will only be worth $125.

Bottom line is that a product is only worth what your cheapest equal quality competitor sells it for.

Don’t get me started on robots either. I have never had one call in sick, take a day of vacation, be late to work or bust a weld test.


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[SabineHunter]

USA first.

[bobby314]

USA, but there's no way it's only 20% more to buy domestic. You can make something in China for $5 what it takes America to make for $20. It's just facts.

[Uncle Saggy]

I go USA first……if not made in China, I’ll get it and consider it a good purchase

The Blackstone grille craze
Made in China
We searched and got a made in USA Outdoor hibachi
It was a bit more

I look at where it’s made for all I purchase


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[tvc184]

Problem is the made in USA ones are typically double. I can't afford made in USA on my salary.

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Yep. In the Op the option was for a $125 Chinese item or one for $155 from the US. I would bet that many people would opt for the American item.

The problem is that if it is $125 from China, It will not be $155 from the US but more likely $200.

[Kevin]

Ive built ... a lot ... of electronics products in both China and the USA ranging from 400k DoD products to $10 consumer. I know what I am talking about here, and the variance between USA and China manufacturing products varies greatly. In fact, China really isnt the cheapest place to manufacture anymore due to rising labor costs in China and tariff issues. A friend of mine that owns a manufacturing and engineering factory in Shenzhen has moved 3 times in 10 years due to rising costs.

If your product is very low labor cost, you can get by with a 20% difference between China v USA. The more you have to add labor (or other things like environmental, heavily regulated, etc...) the larger that gap becomes.

Thanks for the replies. Keep them coming.

[Kevin]

Don’t get me started on robots either. I have never had one call in sick, take a day of vacation, be late to work or bust a weld test.


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Great post overall. This part made me laugh though. All it takes is one successful cyber attack to full-on stop production... and it happens regularly.

[175gr7.62]

Great post overall. This part made me laugh though. All it takes is one successful cyber attack to full-on stop production... and it happens regularly.

If you tie them into your network.


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[miket]

Dont forget, union labor vs China are not always the only options. Sure, they are when talking about parts that require huge infrastructure, but there often is a middle man between these two extremes. There are ( an admittedly dwindling number ) small companies that are still hungry, that are striving to keep costs low and quality up. Without union or illegal labor, or the massive overhead that raises costs.

I chose made in USA when I can, but admit I feel its too late. We have sold out to imaginary stock market numbers that have no correlation to the actual health of a company, or any other indicators that matter, only speculation on what the price will be. People arent investing in companies. They are gambling.

[TeamAmerica]

At that price point give me made in America [emoji631]. China is evil for sure. Seems like India is posed to fill a big gap in manufactured goods. One of our wise investment advisors said our economy should focus more on services and excellence in education. Based on the fact that people only need a limited amount of goods (eg. Washing machine) we should be better off letting someone else make them cheaper. If we don't figure out a way to make legal immigration work to fill the US labor pool we are in for some pain.