Pros & Cons of buying USA Made

This has been an excellent thread. I am impressed by the depth of knowledge by everyone. This subject is a tough one since emotions inevitably become involved. I lost my job due to foreign competition and the tech bust, but I don't blame it on foreign countries. For the product that we were making, they were able to make an identical product for less.
Given a choice I would buy American. I will not buy an American product that is inferior in quality, but I would be willing to pay a little more to support the economy. We are in a jobless recovery right now. In my state many people that had jobs paying $15 to $20 an hour are now settling for $10 to $12 an hour. At some point that will have an effect on what they can buy. While a lot of wealthy people are doing quite well, a lot of middle-income people have seen their buying power drop. That is a large chunk of the Spyderco consumer base.
If Spyderco was approached by "Lantern-Mart" with a production plan that would necessitate bringing a line in from China I would not blame them. It is hard to not enter that market. Especially when there are knife-copiers nipping at the heels of the knife companies. As long as they had a distinct line such as the way Benchmade is using their Red-line. Intermingling knives as Gerber does leads people to believe that all the knives are made to a lower standard. I realize that there are tough choices to make for any knife company. Learning to work within the global trading system is smarter than trying to ignore it. If Spyderco chose to move in that direction to maintain or open a new market share, I would certainly support them. I know that Sal always holds to a very high standard both in the quality of the products made as well as the ethics of the company.

Spyderwa

Rare Spydercos
www.angelfire.com/trek/spyderwa
 
I believe that if you are opposed to buying imports on an ethical basis (exporting jobs, etc..)Then you MUST oppose exporting American products for those same moral, and ethical reasons. For me, quality, is the standard. It turns my stomach to think that an item that I buy may have been made by child/slave labour (or labor for my American friends)but it seems unavoidable, and I have to hope that foriegn dollars will help to lift those countries into a higher standard of living eventually.
 
I am not totally opposed to foreign trade. What has happened in the U.S. in recent years is that things have gone to the extreme. Not only are foreign products being imported, but U.S. companies are moving their operations offshore to take advantage of lower wages and bad working conditions in other countries. In addition these companies are bringing Third World labor to the U.S. to displace American workers.

I am not for total elimination of foreign trade, but some way must be found to limit it so that it does not have an overall negative effect on U.S. workers. I would not attempt to say where the line should be drawn, but it needs to be done. One change that clearly needs to be made to restore full employment is a complete moratorium on immigration, and the revocation of H1B Visas.
 
I went into Walmart quite a few months back.I started to read the product tags.It really scared some reality into me.It astonished and angered me,that except for some socks and underwear,there were no USA made clothing items like jackets,shirts,jeans,pants.This carried on into most of the other depts in the store,sad and sickening to say the least.We as Americans need to take more of an interest in the fact we are becoming dependent on imports,and losing most of are decent paying jobs.After all if we have little or no income,it really won't matter how cheap the imports sell for,you need a good job to survive period.Unfortunatly,by purchasing alot of these imports indirectly we support inhumane working conditions,child exploitation,extremely low wages,lose thousands of US worker jobs that are not only in manufacturing,but other companies that support these industries.I would suggest everybody do their best to buy USA made.Quality,durability usually is best in my experience in addition to pricing being competitive with imports,with a few exceptions.I recently purchased a Eagle Industries backpack for $105.00 that is made in the USA and the Blackhawk quivelent(made in Vietnam) was similar in pricing.I bought a USA product I know is better in quality,support our workers,and the great feeling of having the tag read made in the USA.I did the same thing with a knife sheath purchase,boots,shoes.I paid a little more for the boots than I would have to for made in CHINA,but I know they will outlast the Chinese junk and felt alot better supporting our workers.FYI,I bought a nice pair of Danner Fort Lewis boots Gortex and thinsulate.I feel alot better knowing if I get stuck out in the Wilds of some really harsh weather we get here.I feel alot more confident that my American made product won't fail and was made by people making more than 10.00 a day that care about their work.Put simply,jumping out of a plane skydiving,would you like your parachute made in the USA or CHINA?How confident would you feel with your more affordable Asian made import strapped to your back?I will continue to buy as much USA made products as I can.I love Spyderco knives,but I love having that Golden Colorado,USA on my knife.That is why I've ordered a Chinook II.Even though I think the Sieki,Japan knives are of good quality,I will invest my dollars into my own Country as much as possible.:p
 
One last thought I would add.The revitalization of our industries and job market must begin with as many Americans as possible trying to purchase made in the USA products which depending on the product,can be scarce and hard to find.Sometimes spending time in some search engines of the the internet has enabled me to find these products that I can't find in the store that are made in the USA.Alot of people don't care,don't pay attention to where something is made(used to be my problem),or just has accepted the fact we are being totally taken over by imports(particularly from Asian,Middle Eastern Countries,India etc) Actually I don't mind spending some of my money on imports especially from places like Germany,England,Switzerland,Canada etc.Generally where quality of the products are very good,and workers are treated more humane.I have to admit when I think China,Hong Kong,India,Pakistan etc.I think "cheap crap" made by people in not such a great mood or have not alot of pride in what their doing. Even if the quality is good,that tag or marking just burns deep into my mind and just can't warm up to the product that says made in CHINA.I believe really if even just some significant percentage of us try to buy American and then tell the other companies that sell mostly imports, why you didn't buy their product instead.Perhaps,then maybe we may slowly be able to reverse the damage that has been done to our job market.For Example;I e-mailed Blackhawk twice(getting no response)Why I didn't buy their product instead of Eagle Industries.Now maybe they don't care from the fact I got no response,but when more than a handful follow my step,hitting them hard in the wallet,they are bound to take notice.At least some manufacturers sell some lines of imported as well as USA made,Giving a choice and allows a person to send a meassage,"hey there are still alot of people that prefer USA made products,don't leave us out" I think there are more positives for everybody from the consumer side and the manufacturers side that would benefit better in the long run from keeping most products and jobs here in the USA imho.So in short,if Spyderco made more of it's line of knives in the USA,I would consider adding more models to my collection in addition to what I already have from their Golden facility.;)
 
except for some socks and underwear,there were no USA made clothing items like jackets,shirts,jeans,pants.
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Actually, some of the blue jeans sold in the Walmart nearest me are made in Greensboro, North Carolina. These include the Wrangler brand.

But there is a catch. A cousin in North Carolina tells me that the textile mills there are full of illegal immigrants. When I was going to college in the 1970's, I worked in a North Carolina textile mill during the summers. At that time the workers were a mixture of white and African American, and all were native born U.S. citizens. I am told that is no longer the case.

Alot of what is made in America these days is not really made by Americans. In my opinion, if American workers are being displaced by illegal and H1B immigrants, then it would be better if the product is made in a foreign country. In both cases the product is being made by foreigners. However, if the product is being made by illegal immigrants here in the U.S., not only are we losing jobs, but our tax dollars are paying for education for the illegals' kids, health care, law enforcement, and many other social costs associated with immigration.

If a job is outsourced, we lose a job. But when illegal and excessive legal immigrants take our jobs, we lose jobs and a whole lot more.
 
I agree about illegal immigrants damaging our job market.I don't really understand how a company as large as the one that makes Wrangler can get away with hiring these illegal immigrants.Where are our INS enforcement,and why aren't they raiding these factories and jailing the company officials?Well anyway,if you found jeans made in the USA I'm suprised.The only name brand jeans I saw at Walmart in NY here i.e. Lee,Levis etc.where made in Mexico and other foreign countries.The straw really that broke the camels back was the American flag I found at a store made in CHINA,that did it for me,along with all the Christmas decorations,trees and supplies.I get nauseated thinking about the situation.We can all help ourselves by putting in a little effort when making purchases.Oh,one more thing before I go.Another shock for me was when I was buying shrimp at the seafood section of our grocery chain.I always assumed the seafood was generally harvested by American fisherman.To my suprise,and disgust almost all the packages identified the source being from either China,Thailand,or Vietnam.Even our food market is going the way of importing everything.Please all do something about it now,before it is to late.
 
Where are our INS enforcement,and why aren't they raiding these factories and jailing the company officials?
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The employer sanction laws are not being enforced. Why? Ask George Bush and the Congress. If they were honest they would tell you that with their reliance on huge campaign contributions from big business, they won't dare rub the the big corporations the wrong way.

The American worker and middle class has no representation in the government of this country. Both the Republican and Democratic Parties do the bidding of big business. There are just as many liberal Democrats involved in this as blue blood Republicans. In fact, Tombstone, one of your NY Democrat representatives is the chief proponent in Congress of exporting jobs to India. I can't remember his name, but he was interviewed on the Lou Dobbs show the other night.

That's why most Democrats are only liberal on social issues, like banning your guns and knives. When it comes to economic issues, most are no different from Republicans. It was Bill Clinton, for example, who pushed through the NAFTA treaty and an increase in H1B Visas. Unfortunately, being on the left in this country does not mean being pro-worker, as it does in Europe.
 
Yes,it seems the politicians are helping to do plenty of damage to our Economical stability among other issues.One thing is for sure whether Republican or Democrat most politicians are all unethical.The few decent ones are too outnumbered to clean up our Government.
Sad :(
 
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