Guest article by ” Bogan “
There are a bunch of laws and regulations out there covering labeling of goods that are imported into the USA from outside the USA, whether manufactured (consumer goods, for example), agricultural products and more. Other industrialized countries have similar laws.
These are called:
Country of Origin Labeling Requirements
(“COOL”) (really!)
There are lots of reasons for country of origin labeling (COOL), such as to figure out whether or not the item is subject to tax as it enters our borders. However one criteria set out in the U.S. law is that “An ultimate purchaser, by reason of the character of such article or by reason of the circumstances of its importation, must necessarily know the country of origin of such article…..” (19 US Code § 1304). So consumer protection is a factor in why we have such laws.
This is why when you buy a consumer product, say a fishing rod or a can of spam or an automobile or a bottle of aspirin from elsewhere, it will have a “Made in China” “Made in Korea” or “Made in El Salvador” (or wherever) label printed on it somewhere.
Marking must be by:
“…printing, stenciling, stamping, branding, labeling, or by any other reasonable method” into the product itself. Some products are labeled with bands, twist ties, and pin tags. The objective is to provide a legible and conspicuous notice of where the item came from.
There are exceptions and variations (for example for raw and processed foods) and the laws and regulations are well developed in this area at least in the USA and in other more developed countries.
After all, according to Wikipedia, the practice started in the ancient world up to 4,000 years ago so it isn’t the latest greatest idea.
So how does this relate to preparedness?
Personally, I’d like to know before buying something, where it came from. Case in point these days: China! And for a host of reasons beyond just health. But there are other countries I would be concerned about as a preparedness-minded individual. For one, if I see a “Made in the USA” label, I’ll be more likely to think positively about the merchandise when comparing it to other countries of origin.
Online Vendors?
The problem is, when buying from an online vendor, there is a falloff of information. The package may be labeled for country of origin but the online advertisement or product description isn’t. As a consequence, the first time a buyer is informed that a product bought online is from a foreign country is when (s)he opens to box when it gets to their door.
Is this something that needs to change? Maybe knowing where something comes from will influence my buying decision, maybe it doesn’t, but at least I would like to make an informed decision before handing over my hard earned dollars.
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT KNOWING WHERE SOMETHING COMES FROM BEFORE YOU BUY IT FROM AN ONLINE VENDOR?
~ Bogan
[ Ken adds: One way to find out when online shopping Amazon (for example) is this: For a given product, scroll down to the Q & A section (just above the reviews). More than likely someone has asked that question already and will be one of the top results (indicating that it is important for many people). If it’s not listed in the top Q & A results, there’s a search box right there — type in “country” or “China”, which will often turn up the question (and the answer).
Also, If a product (on Amazon) is made in the USA, it is nearly always highlighted as such in the product description. Which itself indicates the marketing value of making our own stuff here in the United States! ]
How important is it for you to know where the country of origin is? Will that influence your decision in any way? When shopping ONLINE, do you look for this information?
[ Read: Should the US Focus on Self Sufficiency as a Matter of National Priority? ]
Made in the USA baby!
They should definitely be labeled by law so we have the right to choose. I don’t want to eat food products from China, and I don’t want my family eating food products from China. They’ve already sent poison pet food and poison medicines over here, so why would human food be any different to them? I’m pretty sure I read an article a while back where they were caught putting a white plastic type material in their rice too. I’ve been noticing more and more food products made in China in the grocery stores. I’ve seen corn, shrimp, mandarin oranges, and hard candy (lollipops) in Wally world that were from China. How stupid are we as a nation offshoring our food, medicines, and manufacturing to a nation that considers us their enemy?
Oh yeah !
Let’s pass another Law.
As if we don’t have enough already.
What about that old saying, “Buyer beware.”
Way back when people were assumed to have ‘common sense.’
By all means, let’s have another Law, to ‘keep us safe’.
Agree with the above comments on no more laws . We have too many now. We need fewer laws ,not more.
I always look for country of origin.I would rather support an American company than a foreign one .I have done an internet search to find listings of “made in the U.S.A.” products.One example I found is All American clothing company,jeans, shirts,mens & women clothing items.
American companies need to promote their made in America products as much as they can ,people are more aware of the situation right now . I will pay a little more to support them.
Absolutely makes a difference.
I am partial to USA made products, next in line are European and areas like Ukraine or the former Soviet bloc countries, i only buy Chinese if its the only choice. Niw more than ever i am firm on that.
Forgot,,,,
Agree with everybody regarding too many laws, but i do look for country of manufacture.
🇺🇸
I am to the understanding that a large percentage of our medication comes from China. China has been known for cutting corners/shorting items, manufacturing sub standard goods. I would like to know!
Virtually, ALL of our medications come from China…say 97%. Those coming from India, the other major source of our medications, use Chinese base chemicals…. So, most of the drugs from India…are basically Chinese, too.
Let’s have a War, where the enemy is in charge of making our ammo.
There is a drug company in Israel called Teva. Do not know where their base product comes from. Scary when one country controls most of the meds. A new law preventing that would be welcome.
Plus the laws on generics are crap. They can 30% off in the content of the drug that is supposed to be helping you.
well said.
They get around these laws by using the location of the company’s headquarters or labeling it as “assembled in.” Another is “product of,” which could be absolute (made and assembled) or partial (made in another country, packaged here). Such fun word games!
I absolutely want to know where something was made! At one time this would have been a courtesy to their customers, without regard to laws.
Some of our beef comes into the US from Mexico where the cattle are finished off for the slaughterhouse. The beef packages get the USDA seal and the average consumer is clueless.
NO to new laws. YES to new tariffs. YES to reduced regulations.
It is important to me to know where the product came from and Yes I make by purchase decisions on that both online and in person.
No more laws please. I always like the end product that states made in the USA, fine print then states assembled in the USA with the majority of parts made domestically and some parts non-domestic. At least the assembly and most parts provide work here.
Ignoring the great which-chainsaw-is-best debate just bought a new 55cc Stihl (at my age the saw will outlast me) gas saw from a local hardware place, trying to keep with a USA product. (Local place services this brand, a six pack of oil doubled the warrenty from 1 to 2 years, trying to keep some dollars local).
Sorry, forgot online- gas power equipment I buy locally, otherwise online i try to buy USA manufactured.
We rarely buy anything online. I would rather buy from a local business. I am not as concerned about where something is made, I am concerned about who I hand my money to. I do business with local Mom and Pop stores as much as I can.
car, like to do that also. We have a health food store here and like to shop there when possible.
I am with you on that score Car Guy.
I have always wondered why people blame company’s like Walmart for putting the Mom and Pop stores out of business when it was THEIR choice to save that couple of bucks buying from Walmart that actually did it.
When you buy from a Mom and Pop your dollars stay in the community much more than when you buy from a chain. i work for a large Auto parts chain so I know of what I speak. We donate to local causes of course but not to the extent ( at least percentage why’s ) that some of the smaller business’s do.
I purchased a beautiful set of damask tablecloth and napkins. Cotton was grown in Egypt. Cloth was woven in a unique style invented in and associated with Damascus. Weaving took place in either Bangladesh or Nigeria. Finished product was dyed, cut, and hemmed in The Gambia. Dye, thread, scissors, needles, sewing marine, sewing table each have their own production paths. Where was the tablecloth “made”?
Could do this for uncounted number of products, many very complex, with separate paths for separate components, and include distinct packaging and labeling too. Where were they “made”? How is “made” defined in law – merely “assembled”?
I look at the credits at the end of a movie and sometimes wonder what it would be like to do this with other things, like pieces of printer paper.
AM:
To your scenario above, the well-developed existing regulatory system for COOL is set up to sort through those variables involving multiple countries and come up with an answer.
My point is not that the product has to be labeled, that’s already the law. But unless you dig around in the fine print of online vendors as Ken suggests in his footnote to the article, you don’t really know what the label says until you open the box when it gets to your doorstep. (And Amazon is probably one of the more informative online vendors in this regard.)
I’d rather have that information readily available before making a decision. Maybe it will sway me one way or the other, maybe not. But at least it a relevant factor in my decision making process. It may not be to others.
Wouldn’t you want to know where something came from before buying it?
One scenario where vendor labeling could help is the vendor label alongside the product origin label. Example:if a vendor is selling a bunch of stuff that is (supposedly) ‘made in the USA’ and the vendor is located in China, that could throw up some red flags. Because if a product is made in the US, we kind of assume the vendor is located in the US as well. I have been to flea markets in China that were loaded with copycat items and if you are not an expert on such items, you wouldn’t know they were a knockoff. A couple of years ago a major online retailer defended selling some items that were fake. They said that sometimes the fake product was of a higher quality than the legitimate product. That is why I buy almost all online products from the actual manufacturer or a vendor I trust that has a legitimate supply chain.
I agree with Lauren above, the Suppliers/Manufactures play their stinking word games.
Will guarantee you if ya buy a Ford, 90% of those parts are made outside the USofA.
Same way with Produce, it’s called a 3000 mile Salad for a good reason, think Mexico and south.
Do we need new laws? Probably not, we just need to become smarter consumers. Y’all know dang well your not buying fresh Bananas from the USofA in the middle of January.
As far as my preference, sure I’d rather buy USofA stuff, and honestly with all that’s going on now…. I’ll be doing a LOT more research for such.
One last thing, Online buying…. Guess what, if you buy it from Amazon, and it comes in as ‘Made in China’, RETURN IT at no cost, in the “Reason for Return” simply put the fact you don’t buy Chinese.
PS; good job on the Article Bogan
Thank You.
ya know when I owned an auto repair shop people would at times ask me what were the best cars to buy and I usually told them Honda’s and Toyota’s
I had another customer tell me I should recommend American cars because I wasn’t being a good american.
So I asked him if I should recommend the Fords that were built in mexico and Canada or the Chevy’s built in Korea or if it should be the Toyota’s built in California or the Honda’s built in the Midwest. He didn’t have a good answer. Personally I buy Made in the USA as much as possible but I also take into account what company’s are employing people in this country and putting dollars into this economy
Remember Datsun? We had one years ago and literally drove it until the doors rusted off and even then the engine still purred like a kitten. Meanwhile family and friends went through Chevies and Mopars like changing socks. Years ago I was biased against Toyota and Honda. That was until I started looking through Consumer Reports and saw the reliability and used cars to avoid recommendation. In the used cars to avoid section, there were hardly any Toyotas or Hondas but loaded with chevies and mopars.
Agree on the 3000 mile label. How else would we havehave fresh ettuce in February? That is one of the advantages and disadvantages to receiving international produce. Good-fresh veggies in February. Bad- commonly use chemicals in crop production that are banned from use in the US. Along similar lines, why do we need to have apples from Peru in September when the stores should be full of almost exclusively US grown produce.
Sewing machine.
Many of us here recall when Made in Japan was considered junk.
Now Japan makes some quality stuff
Kula,
I do like Japanese hand saws. Another Quality tool that feels good when you use them.
Btw, I was gifted a Gerstner and sons wood machinist tool box full of tools. The box needs restoration. The lid came apart but all the pieces are there. It’s my project that I want to do by this summer .
What a Beautiful tool box…
Bill Jenkins Horse;
Sir, your not going to like that Tool Box……. not any better that a hunk of Firewood.
You should ship that to me, I’ll take right care of it for ya.
Geez,I just looked online.
Someone is asking over $10,000 for one.
Wow!
I have seen them at garage sales for a couple hundred bucks. Guess maybe I should of grabbed them huh?
I’m liking this box more and more…
When I’m done maybe I can share a picture. You and SMG can drool over it…LOL
Bill Jenkins Horse:
Noooo you read that wrong, it was $ 100.00
Offer is still good
😁
Bill Jenkins Horse
I’m closer than NRP, I’ll pay the freight.!
Stand my Ground;
I don’t think so dude, get inline HAHA
Plus I’m offering a 1/2 gallon of Organic Parts Cleaner.
NRP
That’s not fair. I’m gonna have a snowflake fit, that’s not fair, I want my mommy.
Oh no we need to get SMG a stuffed animal and a safe place for him to curl up in.
NRP is just mean
LOL
Bill Jenkins Horse,
Wow! you have a treasure there. I have one I inherited from my Dad. Has all my grandfather’s fine machinist’s tools, calipers, micrometers, etc in it . A lot of it from the turn of the last century , many Starrett items. Box has some damage that I have partly repaired. I also was given a newer Gerstner International oak toolbox. I keep that on in the house with all my electronic parts and repair equipment for working on my ham radio stuff. cool for sure.
Minerjim,
My friends widow gave it to me for helping her with the funeral. I couldn’t attend as there was a limit of ten people only. I paid my respects at the funeral home in private. Took a long time to get it all done as his was an unattended death.
A good friends MIL passed away. It’s the same thing. Only 10 people allowed to be there. Not a particularly good time to pass away and an even sadder time for families …
Bill Jenkins Horse:
OMG Bill had no idea.
What a treasure you have there.
Thank you for sharing.
God Bless
Bill Jenkins Horse,
Good you were there to help her out. These are hard times for sure. You will remember your friend Every time you open that box and use a tool from it. I know, because I feel my grandfather, father, and my mentors looking over my shoulder as I use the tools they once held in the hands. Blessings Ol’ Son.
Yeah, Japan and Taiwan peddled a bunch of crap back then. My dad bought some cheap socket sets and many sockets split after a couple uses. Then I bought a fairly expensive socket set that was made in Japan. It had a warranty included. Those sockets would take a beating even when using a cheater bar. It’s like the old saying ‘You get what you pay for’.
“Made in China”. Sort of amusing that “Bogan” offered this article after I have just finished testing some of my stored rechargeable AA and AAA batteries.
Due to the present unpleasantness and the possibility of increased vigilance becoming more and more prudent, I decided to take a few sets of FRS/GMRS radios and stored batteries out of their Faraday cans, to be pressed into service.
The radios and extra rechargeable batteries, with auxiliary battery chargers have been in storage for about 5 years. Surprise, surprise, about half the batteries would not accept a charge.
Tested all of them with a multi-meter. Half showed a reading of 1.1 t0 2.0 volts, half showed to be completely dead.
In fairness, these batteries were the low end Wally World Ray-O-Vac rechargeable (green and silver colored). (American brand name, made in China)
Scrambled to order replacements last night, using Ken’s Amazon link. I ordered Eneloops (made in Japan)
Folks might want to check your stored batteries to avoid finding out your preps may have taken a crap, before circumstances make it too late to correct the problem.
Dennis;
Believe you’ll be happy with the Eneloop’s
Have had quite a few for several years… Not a single one has failed to date
Yup. The Enloops are good batteries.
Dennis, good advice. Thanks.
Dennis, what kind of batteries? We had Energizer batteries stored on our boat that were vacuum sealed. After years in a closed up boat in the hot Mexican sun there was zero leakage and they were full voltage. We have enloops in the Faraday box and I have never charged them. Should I?
They too are vacuum sealed.
me,
Ray-o-Vac rechargeable NiCad. I always remember Energizers to be a Ray-O-Vac product, but they only say Ray-O-Vac. Package says recharges up to 1,500x’s. Ironically, also says guaranteed 5 years (they’re 5 years old)
I prefer to shop local when possible and purchase items made in the USA with USA materials. However, it is not always feasible. I believe these last many weeks have taught this nation a lesson in what we need to bring home. I looked forward to being able to get more items local.
I don’t like law after law after law. In fact, that was one thing I truly enjoyed about Trump when he started eliminating a lot of stupid and/or extraneous rules set up by unelected bodies of workers.
Do your due diligence….or send it back. I remember many years ago I ordered a piece of furniture from an American company from South or North Carolina. When my product came in, it smelled weird and I discovered it actually came from China! Explain to me how that happened. I felt bad for the delivery people, but….. not what I signed up to receive.
No more laws. Read the reviews and ask questions. And sometimes, you just have to buy something from China, but at least you did your research.
No new laws. Just smarter consumers.
Btw,why do you think many companies left the USA?
They were being strangled by feel good regulations and too powerful unions. Then competition from other countries products and NO LOYALTY BY AMERICAN CONSUMERS forced their hand.
I have Estwing hammers. An American made one costs$50. A Chinese/Taiwan hammer cost $8. Which one is in your toolbox?
That’s what I thought. So Estwing also carries a less expensive line of hammers that are made in Taiwan so they can stay in business here in the good old USA. My Milwaukee drill cost over$300. A Ryobi drill cost $40 and has its uses. Which one is in your toolbox?
Most people’s homes and their shops would be pretty empty without products from elsewhere. People want to own things now. Not wait to save up for quality items. Chinese products fit the market of instant gratification and this learned disposable societal mindset.
Personally I want a choice how I spend my money. When Quality is needed/wanted I spend extra because quality costs more. When cost and availability is desirable Chinese products most times fit the bill.
I want to make that decision.
Not Some Idiot Government Bueracrats thinking for me or “saving me” from myself.
I’m all for manufacturing critical products at home. But don’t BITCH when it costs more. Quality costs more. The Government Bueracrats will only add to the costs because they have to justify their job’s existence with more regulations and fees that get passed on to consumers.
Then there are the Union Lackeys who are salivating over bloated wages and dues to fund their parasitic positions “running” the Unions.
Be careful what you wish for…
The 300$ stiletto titanium,,,
Some stuff is just better
And a whole bunch of Estwing hammers, bars, and hatchets!
Kula, that’s a beautiful hammer. Great design and has that cool industrial art vibe going on.
That’s for when you are serious about bending nails…LOL
Bill Jenkins Horse;
To answer your two questions…
I have been in the Trades for wayyyyy to many years to buy “cheep”
So yes, I have the now $400 Milwaukee Drill
and the Estwing Hammer’S
Cheep don’t always cut the mustard in the Field.
NRP, yep cheap dont cut it when you’re using it everyday.
It would be like a surgeon using a snap off blade razor knife instead of a scalpel to do your operation…
BJH
Friend who is an electrician the business he works for left the union about 4-5 years ago just for the reasons you state. Giving a bloated system his hard earned money which they did not earn.
What really sealed the deal was when the union rep showed up to find out why they were resigning. This person showed up in a expensive vehicle(either BMW or Mercedes), suit about what the price of few weeks wages. High end jewelry and then had the odd audacity to ask why they wanted out of the union.
Friend said he was tired of supporting over paid worthless people like him, so he had better get back into his vehicle before thing became nasty.(polite terminology)
AC,the Corruption is still huge in the Unions.
Met a guy who worked for Ford. He made over $200,000 with overtime a year. When Ford got bailed out he was offered early retirement, years wage payout and free medical for life as compensation. (A sweet deal if he wasnt BSing me ).
He retired in Hawaii with an ocean view and no worries for life.Taxpayer funded of course.
Crazy huh…
5 Estwings in my stable (3 hammers, 1 Camp Axe, 1 Hatchet). Great tools, Rockford, IL
+1 on a 22 oz. Estwing framing hammer with the waffle head to grab those 16 penney sinkers, a Stanley 25′ tape, Swanson speed square, Skilsaw..
* 28 oz (a 32 oz was just too much of a threat to my thumb)
Here in China, almost everything sold is made in China. You can buy some foreign products but you will pay a lot more. It is because of tariffs on foreign goods. You can buy the Chinese made widget for $7 or the foreign made one for $12 here. The $12 widget costs $8.50 in its country of manufacture. China discourages foreign made purchases by making the imported items exceedingly expensive through tariffs. Don’t get me started on how China will take a foreign product, copy it to almost a T and then push the China made one at a little bit cheaper price.
Knowing where something comes from is very important to me. Sometimes I really feel the pain when buying something made in U.S.A., but it’s worth it. You know it’s better quality, and will most likely last longer in most cases. I went to Lowe’s quite some time back to buy a U.S.A. flag, and it said “made in China”. Needless to say I came unglued. I told them I wouldn’t buy anything there if I couldn’t get a made in U.S.A. flag, and I would tell all my friends too. What an insult. After my whiney display, it wasn’t long before U.S.A. flags showed up in the store. I just wish more things made in U.S.A. would show up. I have to admit though, there some things foreign made that I do like. I’m usually good with “made in Japan”, and a few other places.
We always check the county of origin. Especially with seafood which is a ‘must purchase’ item for us. (not much here about grown locally, ‘cept trout and Rocky Mountain Oysters). we try to Buy American whenever we can. Some items, like medicinal herbs must be sourced out of the country, like from china. (but I have noted that my supplier now states they are working with American farmers to grow non-native/ chinese herbs in America) . If this country is to move manufacturing back home, we are going to have to have tariffs on foreign made products and pay higher prices for American items. So be it. I know this will be hard for many people on limited incomes, but I think with time those prices will come down. I think American companies will embrace more automated/robotic production to bring costs down in the long run. factory jobs in this county will be fewer and look different, but our economy will morph to find work for everyone that needs employment.
If I know that it comes from a Communist or Islamic country NO WAY ! I do favor some American made products from Winchester, Ruger, Remington, and Smith and Wesson. However, we both drive trucks from Toyota and on a hot day some cold “Corona n Cuervo” will do as long as the limes come from Florida ( my lime tree).
Let us not forget John Deere, because ” Nothing runs like a Deere”.
Seminole, you forgot Federal ammo, made in Anoka Minne-snow-da
Mossberg, gravel crunchers.
@Nathan James,
Why are you replying to yourself (Seminole Wind) under a different alias name (Nathan James)? That seems a bit deceptive. Stick with one please (it’s in our TOS) thanks.
If you’re simply making a one-time switch, that’s okay:
(there has been some deception on the blog lately, so i’m just going through some comments to check on things)
The use of ‘alias’ names for commenting:
You can post anonymously here by using an ‘alias’ name if you wish. We ask that you choose an alias and stick with it. Those caught ‘intentionally’ impersonating the name of another will be banned. Those caught repeatedly disguising themselves with multiple alias names will be banned. No problem with switching every once in awhile, but when it’s done to deceive, that’s another story…
SW
The question is, is a toyota made in tennessee or a ford made in mexico more american. I’m not pretending to have an answer. My gripe is primarily food products, labeled distributed by. Nowhere on the packaging can i find place of origin.
john deere gets all of their parts from china. I have been in the diesel fuel injection repair business for 38 yrs now, I know
The ventilators that everybody wants for their states have parts made in 17 different countries.
me— I had a little automatic washing machine once. Cute as a button, etc.. What a lemon. After a few months, it started breaking down nearly every month. So the repair man would come (on warranty), check /order part/wait forever, and replace. After the year warranty was nearly up, repairman was once more installing “new” part. As he was done, he says to me, “would you like to purchase a two year extended warranty on this?”…Shocked (because we all new it was a money sink, garbage), I said pardon me/he repeated, and I RAN to get my cheque book, paid quickly, and made certain I had a receipt. Golly, big surprise, it kept breaking down every month. So, all in all, I must have had parts from twenty to thirty different countries. Seriously. After first year of the “extended warranty” was up, got phone call from warranty department. They offered, to give me all the monies paid for extended warranty back, if I would let them cancel warranty. NOT a chance bud. Back and forth some, and they offered me a cheque for the full price a new one (not even the sale price I had originally paid). Said yup pretty quick. Cashed that cheque quick too.
anyway, the moral of the story was, even twenty /more yrs back, some of these things were made with parts from zillion different countries. How is it possible to expect any quality control in this manner?
My grandpa had a riding lawnmower and got the extended warranty at time of purchase. My grandpa said they could have practically built three lawnmowers with all the replacements. The repair guy started leaving a bunch of extra parts with my grandpa so he could fix it himself in anticipation of the next things that would go kaput.
I don’t think a preparedness-minded person would be in the market to buy a ventilator from an online vendor. That’s more a business decision for procurement types in bureaucracies who will have their own criteria, such as “Buy American” (or maybe not).
I am thinking more of the average Joe/Sally consumer at a retail level, perhaps someone who frequents MSB, who might want to know where the heck it was that the item they are looking at to buy was made….if it makes a difference to them. Maybe it doesn’t. At least the information would be available.
As to the burden/cost of compliance to list COOL for products sold online, ZERO goes to the manufacturer or anyone in the supply chain except the online vendor “middleman” .
It would be on the online vendor to state in the product description somewhere, where the item came from. They have to input other data into the product description, what’s a few more words (like three or four)? Fells like pretty low impact to me on the online vendor.
Just a word of advice to the novice:
I have always purchased the very best tools.
If I find a great shovel, I ask…”Does this come in GOLD PLATE?”
If I buy a gallon of paint, I ask…”Don’t you have anything better? What if I buy 10 gallons? Don’t you have one that is guaranteed to last 100 years?”
Only the very best. Only the longest lasting. Only the highly praised.
buy the best. buy it once
How tragic! The ventilators, which everyone wants…is only proof you have no idea of what to do!
Quality online vendors are capable of providing the Country of Origin information to viewers. Whether they buy from a wholesale distributor or direct from the manufacturer, they have the ability to ‘know their product.’ Customers need to make their interests known to online vendors. When customers ask or demand this type of information, an online vendor who wants to appease customers will work towards improving their goods and services.
Amazon has done about the best that can be done as an online vendor. I look for the Country of Origin and when able, I do not support China’s products. This hasn’t been easy, but the tide has turned. If we don’t go to war, I envision many new businesses unfolding, and new entepreneurs taking advantage of a post-COVID economy.
Some claim they want no new laws, but it takes laws to eliminate laws. It takes laws to create/modify tariffs. It takes laws to protect people. And until/unless our political body completely changes to be “for the people” and not a 100% legislative and litigious entity, complete with hundreds of NGOs crafting laws that politicians don’t even read before they sign off on them, laws will continue to be produced by the millions.
I am very concerned about where something is made; I do not want anything made in China. What really angers me is when I find something made in America and the company is even partially owned by China. As a rancher I will not sell my beef to be processed in a Chinese owned processing plant. How many of you know that perhaps the largest meat processing plant in the U.S. is Chinese owned? China has only one goal and that is to destroy America. Yes, I have a bias and I am proud of it. I have friends that are Chinese but they are not communist. After this post I hope that Ken continues to let me post.
Mark this post. Until 2002 30-40% of our drugs were manufactured in Puerto Rico. A law passed in the late 90’s made it cost prohibitive to manufacture there so the business moved to China. I suspect Trump will want to reverse that. We can defend PR with 6 decent Navy ships and control the entire island. Before he is finished I expect a law enacted to make it profitable for drug manufacturers to produce again “locally”.
If anyone is seriously interested (not blustering lip service) in knowing the
country of origin of any product then two things must happen.
#1 A strict law must force the vendors to be truthful! Most don’t give a shit
about the consumer as long as they are making money they could
care less about where a product comes from.
#2 Consumers must be willing to pay higher prices.Quality costs. Period.
For too long we have all looked at a Cabelas catalog and seen IMPORTED on 95% of their of items- – and we bought anyway
They make everybody put that stupid Ca prop 65 or whatever TF it is on everything, the least they could do is also put where the crap came from.
JMHO
Absolutely. I’m already disgusted by how much I own comes from China or else other countries such as Vietnam, Honduras, etc. I’d like to know the country of origin for what I buy. I can easily do that at a store but not online. And buying online is deceptive; recently bought something from a US company that has the name of the US city in it but it was manufactured overseas and shipped to them for resale.
I’d really like to cut way down on what I buy from China. I do hold them responsible for this pandemic and have zero desire to continue to send them my hard-earned money. Obviously one way I can do this is by buying used items whenever yard/garage sales, flea markets etc start up again. Many items are just not available new other than those manufactured in China. A big exception are my socks which are all made in Vermont!
Try to buy Made is USA as often as possible, like many have already said stay away from China unless it’s the absolute last resort. Mrs. and I actually picked up a couple large gardening pots a while back. Were torn between two varieties. Flipped em over, one was made in China, the other Italy. Took the indecisiveness right out of the equation
I think older products made in the USA were a better item.
Remember:
**Planned obsolescence**
Planned obsolescence in industrial design and economics is a policy of planning or designing a product with an artificially limited useful life, so that it becomes obsolete after a certain period of time. The rationale behind this strategy is to generate long-term sales volume by reducing the time between repeat purchases.Wikipedia
That is why many American products suck.
That got us into the throw away society, I realize some products are still good and the price matches.
I believe this all started with the light bulb industry way back
but I could be wrong.