8-26-2020
Searching for American Made
Many years ago I bought a brand new Ford pickup. Drove it off the dealer’s lot and kept it for about 11 years before selling it. One day while looking at the data plate inside the driver side door frame it said assembled in Canada.
Recently while shopping with my wife in a supermarket chain store I remembered I needed a padlock. As I walked through the store I decided that I wanted an American made padlock. I found myself near the back of the store and on the wall were a variety of padlocks in various makes and sizes. So I found one that was the right size and looked at the packaging – Made in China. WRONG! I can do better than that so I kept looking. Another one looked really good – Made in Mexico. Still another made in Canada. So I thought to myself and probably said it out loud – why can’t I find padlock made in the USA? I ended up getting one that was assembled in China from American made parts. Geeze……you got to be kidding me. Doesn’t anybody in the USA make padlocks anymore?
That got me to thinking about how hard it is to really find something made in the USA. I mean something that I want or need right now. If I want a US flag, there are many choices and the ones with the flag saying Made in the U.S.A. are pretty good ones too.
Reality sets in when you need an item then go online. You search for a particular item and it comes up rather quickly. The price is right and it’s a bit cheaper than in a local store and shipping is free. WOW! I recently took a chance on a doorbell camera. The item was described as a second generation model and free shipping. The item came in a couple of days and when I opened it, it wasn’t even the item described in the ad. Right away I contacted the seller and complained they had advertised item “A” but sent item “B” (a completely different item). I asked for return authorization. They said I couldn’t return it as their warehouse was in China.
So I searched again and found the name brand item I was looking for and as a reconditioned item the price was right and I ordered it. I had it in a day or two and the box was the right brand and I was happy that finally I had the item I wanted. I opened the box and yes it was the name brand I had ordered. Just for kicks I looked at the back of the item and it said made in China.
There was a time when workers signed their name to their work as a sign of quality. I haven’t seen that much anymore. The old adage that “it’s good enough for government work” seems to infer there are no standards. Do they even do that anymore? There is one name that stands for quality workmanship and it’s very pronounced so it cannot be missed. Unknowingly people falsely assume it is a sign of flaunting the name. In a way maybe it is but in reality the name TRUMP signifies extreme quality in construction.
There is a computer company that manufactures mobile devices and people are amazed that it took quite a long time for it to be rated as a fortune 500 company then in just a few short years it became ten times more valuable. It’s not that hard to understand after realizing that they moved their assembly line to China where it costs less to produce their product and Americans will gladly pay for their new technological inventions.
I challenge you to shop around no matter what you are about to purchase. Check the brand, look at the device and examine the country of origin to see if it really is a really good deal or was it even made in America? There have been various trade agreements whereby poultry and livestock were slaughtered in the US, shipped to China or other overseas locations to be processed and then shipped back to US consumers. That has to stop. American made products should be available throughout America before they are replaced by foreign made products. I have travelled extensively overseas and I often find myself looking for made in USA labels on brand name items. – I am the Real Truckmaster!
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