Buy American! That said, good luck finding any products that are made in America. It’s almost impossible. Even American cars aren’t necessarily made in America anymore. We were sold a bill of goods 30 years ago, that we would now be a “service economy”. Hows that working out? 100 million on welfare, 50 million in poverty (but what is poverty in the U.S., not having the latest iphone?). The road to serfdom is paved with rubber Chinese dogshit.
“Black Friday” is almost here as well. The day devoted to mindless consumerism. $500 billion is leaving our country to foreign shores every year (good thing we can go in debt and print money). A prequel to the coming spending season. It’s too late for the “buy American” anthem anymore. After the collapse, we’ll again have to make what we need.
55 Reasons Why You Should Buy Products That Are Made In America This Holiday Season
Theeconomiccollapseblog.com on November 19th, 2012
This is the time of the year when Americans run out to their favorite retail stores and fill up their shopping carts with lots of cheap plastic crap made by workers in foreign countries where it is legal to pay slave labor wages. By doing this, the American people are actively participating in the destruction of the U.S. economy. You see, buying products that are made in America is not just a matter of national pride. It is a matter of national survival. If we do not support American workers, they are going to continue to see their jobs shipped out of the country. If we do not support American businesses, they are going to continue to die off at a staggering rate. Last year, the United States had a trade deficit with the rest of the world of 558 billion dollars. More than half a trillion dollars that could have gone into the pockets of U.S. workers and U.S. businesses went overseas instead. If that money had stayed in the country, taxes would have been paid on that mountain of cash and our local, state and federal government debt problems would not be as severe. As a result of our massive trade imbalance, we have lost tens of thousands of businesses, millions of jobs and trillions of dollars of national wealth. Both major political parties have sold us out on these issues, and we are getting poorer as a nation with each passing day. We desperately need a resurgence of economic patriotism in the United States before it is too late.
Yes, I know that it is very tempting to buy foreign-made products. After all, they are almost always cheaper.
But most people don’t often think about why they are cheaper.
Unfortunately, in the name of “free trade” American workers have been merged into a global labor pool where they have to compete directly for jobs with workers on the other side of the globe that live in countries where it is legal to pay slave labor wages. This makes employing American workers a tremendous liability.
If a company hires you and pays you 10 to 15 dollars an hour with benefits, how is it going to compete with another company that pays workers a dollar an hour with no benefits on the other side of the planet?
Both major political parties are pushing this emerging “one world economic system”, but it is absolutely killing American jobs. We have already seen a mass exodus of jobs and businesses out of this country, and wages for the jobs that remain in the United States are being forced down because there are hordes of unemployed workers that are willing to take just about any decent job they can find.
It has become painfully obvious that our politicians are not going to do anything to help us on these issues, so what we need is a mass awakening among the American people.
We need to educate people that buying things that are made in America is good for the economy and that buying things that are made elsewhere is bad for the economy.
But for now, most Americans are clueless. They will line up on Black Friday morning and trample one another in a desperate attempt to save a few bucks on cheap plastic devices that were made on the other side of the planet.
And they will pay for much of this “shopping” with credit cards.
Credit card debt is on the rise once again. In fact, average credit card debt per borrower was 4.9 percent higher in the third quarter of 2012 than it was in the third quarter of 2011. It looks like most of us didn’t learn our lessons from the last financial crisis.
But not all Americans enjoy the shopping that is typically involved with this time of the year. One recent survey found that approximately 45 percent of all Americans think that there is so much financial pressure associated with the holidays that they wouldn’t mind skipping them completely.
That same poll found that approximately 41 percent of all Americans would only be able to survive for two weeks without a paycheck. Many Americans are up to their eyeballs in debt, their incomes are not keeping up with rising prices, and they find themselves scratching and clawing just to make it from month to month.
Meanwhile, we continue to destroy our own jobs and businesses by spending our money on products that have been made outside the country.
The following are 55 reasons why you should buy products that are made in America this holiday season…
1. When you buy products that are made in America you support American workers.
2. When you buy products that are made in America you support companies that are doing business in America.
3. In 2000, there were more than 17 million Americans working in manufacturing, but now there are less than 12 million.
4. The United States has a trade imbalance that is more than 7 times larger than any other nation on earth has.
5. Our trade deficit with China in 2011 was $295.5 billion. That was the largest trade deficit that one country has had with another country in the history of the planet.
6. In 2011, our trade deficit with China was 28 times larger than it was back in 1990 and more than 49,000 times larger than it was back in 1985.
7. When NAFTA was passed in 1993, the United States had a trade surplus with Mexico of $1.6 billion dollars. In 2010, we had a trade deficit with Mexico of $61.6 billion dollars.
8. One professor has estimated that cutting the U.S. trade deficit in half would create 5 million more jobs in the United States.
9. Overall, the United States has run a trade deficit of more than $8 trillion dollars with the rest of the globe since 1975. That $8 trillion dollars could have gone to support U.S. businesses and pay the wages of U.S. workers. Federal, state and local taxes would also have been paid on that $8 trillion dollars if it had stayed in the United States.
10. According to the Economic Policy Institute, America is losing half a million jobs to China every single year.
11. The United States has lost an average of approximately 50,000 manufacturing jobs a month since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001.
12. According to U.S. Representative Betty Sutton, the United States has lost an average of 15 manufacturing facilities a day over the last 10 years.
13. During 2010 alone, an average of 23 manufacturing facilities permanently shut down in the United States every single day.
14. Overall, the United States has lost more than 56,000 manufacturing facilities since 2001.
15. The United States has lost a staggering 32 percent of its manufacturing jobs since the year 2000.
16. Between December 2000 and December 2010, 38 percent of the manufacturing jobs in Ohio were lost, 42 percent of the manufacturing jobs in North Carolina were lost and 48 percent of the manufacturing jobs in Michigan were lost.
17. As I have written about previously, 95 percent of the jobs lost during the last recession were middle class jobs.
18. Due in part to the globalization of the labor pool, only about 24 percent of all jobs in the United States are “good jobs” at this point.
19. Right now, more than 41 percent of all working age Americans do not have a job, and the vast majority of the new jobs that are being created are low paying jobs.
20. The United States now has 10 percent fewer “middle class jobs” than it did just ten years ago.
21. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the U.S. economy loses approximately 9,000 jobs for every $1 billion of goods that are imported from overseas.
22. As our economic infrastructure is gutted, formerly great manufacturing cities all over America are being transformed into festering hellholes.
23. Between 2001 and 2007, the value of products that Wal-Mart imported from China grew from $9 billion to $27 billion.
24. In 2001, American consumers spent $102 billion dollars on products made in China. In 2011, American consumers spent $399 billion dollars on products made in China.
25. The United States spends about 4 dollars on goods and services from China for every one dollar that China spends on goods and services from the United States.
26. Back in 1998, the United States had 25 percent of the world’s high-tech export market and China had just 10 percent. Today, China’s high-tech exports are more than twice the size of U.S. high-tech exports.
27. In 2002, the United States had a trade deficit in “advanced technology products” of $16 billion with the rest of the world. In 2010, that number skyrocketed to $82 billion.
28. The United States has lost more than a quarter of all of its high-tech manufacturing jobs over the past ten years.
29. Manufacturing employment in the U.S. computer industry was actually lower in 2010 than it was in 1975.
30. The Chinese undervalue their currency by about 40 percent in order to gain a critical advantage over foreign competitors. This means that many Chinese companies are able to absolutely thrive while their competition in the United States goes out of business.
31. According to the New York Times, a Jeep Grand Cherokee that costs $27,490 in the United States costs about $85,000 in China thanks to all the tariffs.
32. In 2010, China produced more than twice as many automobiles as the United States did.
33. Since the auto industry bailout, approximately 70 percent of all GM vehicles have been built outside the United States.
34. Do you remember when the United States was the dominant manufacturer of automobiles and trucks on the globe? Well, in 2010 the U.S. ran a trade deficit in automobiles, trucks and parts of $110 billion.
35. In 2010, South Korea exported 12 times as many automobiles, trucks and parts to us as we exported to them.
36. In 2010, China produced 627 million metric tons of steel. The United States only produced 80 million metric tons of steel.
37. In 2010, China produced 7.3 million metric tons of cotton. The United States only produced 3.4 million metric tons of cotton.
38. Today, China produces nearly twice as much beer as the United States does.
39. 85 percent of all artificial Christmas trees are made in China.
40. Right now, China is producing more than three times as much coal as the United States does. (Obama is trying to kill coal).
41. China is now the number one supplier of components that are critical to the operation of U.S. defense systems. How stupid can we possibly be?
42. According to author Clyde Prestowitz, China’s number one export to the U.S. is computer equipment. According to an article in U.S. News & World Report, during 2010 the number one U.S. export to China was “scrap and trash”.
43. All over the United States, road and bridge projects are being outsourced to Chinese firms. Just check out the following excerpt from a recent ABC News article….
In New York there is a $400 million renovation project on the Alexander Hamilton Bridge.
In California, there is a $7.2 billion project to rebuild the Bay Bridge connecting San Francisco and Oakland.
In Alaska, there is a proposal for a $190 million bridge project.
These projects sound like steps in the right direction, but much of the work is going to Chinese government-owned firms.
“When we subsidize jobs in China, we’re not creating any wealth in the United States,” said Scott Paul, executive director for the Alliance for American Manufacturing.
44. The new World Trade Center tower is going to include glass that has been imported from China.
45. The new Martin Luther King memorial on the National Mall was made in China.
46. The Chinese economy has grown 7 times faster than the U.S. economy has over the past decade.
47. The Chinese economy is projected to be larger than the U.S. economy by 2016.
48. One economist is projecting that the Chinese economy will be three times larger than the U.S. economy by the year 2040.
49. In recent years the U.S. economy has embraced “free trade” and the emerging one world economy like never before. Instead of increasing the number of jobs in our economy, it has resulted in the worst stretch of job creation in the United States in modern history….
If any single number captures the state of the American economy over the last decade, it is zero. That was the net gain in jobs between 1999 and 2009—nada, nil, zip. By painful contrast, from the 1940s through the 1990s, recessions came and went, but no decade ended without at least a 20 percent increase in the number of jobs.
50. If you gathered together all of the workers that are “officially” unemployed in the United States today, they would constitute the 68th largest country in the world.
51. China now holds approximately more than two trillion dollars of U.S. government debt. If you were alive back when Jesus was born and you had spent a million dollars every single day since then, you still would not have spent that much money by now.
52. Jeffrey Immelt, the head of Barack Obama’s highly touted “Jobs Council”, has shipped tens of thousands of good jobs out of the United States.
53. Without enough good jobs, more Americans than ever before are falling into poverty. Today, more than 100 million Americans are enrolled in at least one welfare program run by the federal government.
54. According to Professor Alan Blinder of Princeton University, 40 million more U.S. jobs could be sent offshore over the next two decades if current trends continue.
55. If U.S. consumers do not start supporting U.S. workers and U.S. businesses, eventually we will all be so poor that very few of us will be able to afford to buy any gifts during the holiday season.
llpoh says:
Of course Americans should buy American made. Should have done it decades ago. It is, alas, too late. But it would still help. And I do believe the number would be in the millions of jobs created if Americans quit buying foreign shit. But, the sheeple will NEVER spend a couple of percent more on American made – hell no, send the jobs to China.
And fuck all the assholes that deride me for saying that the jobs are going overseas due to cost – bet each and every one of them has a house full of foreign made shit. Yet they deride me for not being prepared to run my company at a loss, and for the fact that I say wages are doomed to fall to meet international levels. Not my fault – it would all have been different if folks bought american made.
And the other thing that goes hand in glove is to buy from local businesses – fuck Wallymart. But again, people will not pay the small difference to support their local businessmen and women. And so those locals go out of business.
People are just too stupid to know what benefits them and what kills them. They kill themselves by their decisions.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
17 
1
20th November 2012 at 7:23 pm
Kill Bill says:
And the other thing that goes hand in glove is to buy from local businesses – fuck Wallymart. But again, people will not pay the small difference to support their local businessmen and women. And so those locals go out of business -llpoh
I concur.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
7 
0
20th November 2012 at 7:48 pm
KaD says:
I know of one thing made in America: http://www.purrfectpost.com. Best damn cat scratching post ever.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
7 
0
20th November 2012 at 8:56 pm
llpoh says:
KaD – now you have done it. China will start mass producing those suckers and selling them for $5.99.
Like or Dislike:
3 
0
20th November 2012 at 8:59 pm
KaD says:
Shit.
Like or Dislike:
2 
0
20th November 2012 at 9:01 pm
ron says:
I bought an colander that was made in the usa.I just sat and looked at it for awhile.Made a tear in my eye.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
6 
0
20th November 2012 at 10:06 pm
Makati1 says:
Lets see, should I buy an F-17 or a new Abrams tank? Then again, the 80 mm. mortar is showing wear so maybe I should replace it instead? Or get a new suit of body armor and one of those neat drones? Wow! So many things to chose from made in the USofA!
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
8 
0
20th November 2012 at 11:08 pm
printmemoney says:
Fuck that …I don’t even buy eagles anymore
Krugerrands and maples
Cheaper premiums
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
7 
0
20th November 2012 at 11:12 pm
IndenturedServant says:
This spring I bought a brand new, old school style washer and dryer made by Speed Queen. I’ve been using and repairing front load pieces of foreign made SHIT for years. No more! Speed Queen is made in the USA from American made parts. I could see and smell the difference in the very first load. Cheaper than fancy front loaders too!
I avoid foreign made shit (especially China) when ever possible. Search my house and I garan-fuckin-tee you will not find much Chinese made merchandise!
Seek out those old, run down looking surplus stores, secondhand stores, and eBay for vintage, new-old-stock American made stuff! You won’t be sorry. I get my favorite NOS acrylic Chatham blankets off eBay whenever they show up. Thin, lightweight, super warm and very soft…..the perfect all season blanket! I may not always be able to support the companies that made the merchandise I find in those places but I’m supporting the American business and their employees selling the stuff. On top of that, quality is almost always better and they negotiate for cash.
Inspect food labels too! You’d be amazed at how much shit is coming out of China and other nations.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
8 
0
20th November 2012 at 11:35 pm
ecliptix543 says:
But we are a service economy!
Debt service
Food service
Laundry service
Housekeeping service
Public service
Military service
Etc, etc, etc.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
6 
0
20th November 2012 at 3:09 am
card802 says:
I’ve had many an argument with my pro union father and uncles.
Each of them expounds that it is business’s responsibility to provide a “living wage” pension, and health care.
Yet when asked if given a choice between a $12 shirt made in Vietnam or the same looking $45 shirt made in America, they at least are honest enough to answer they will buy the $12 shirt.
They have no answers for my questions of how a business is expected to not only pay their demands, but to remain in business if no one purchases their product.
Governments responsibility I guess, and of course that is by taking other peoples money, not theirs….
Fuck them all. I’m done trying to explain or educate. Fuck them all.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
11 
0
20th November 2012 at 7:02 am
Chicago999444 says:
The American-made products that remain are a mixed bag in terms of quality and value for the money.
Where the product is equal to or almost equal to its foreign equivalent, I happily buy American. But that is not always the case.
One totally great product is the rugged, durable, and very functional Metropolitan vacuum cleaner, manufactured in New York by the same family since 1939. I’m replacing my crappy Dirt Devil with one of these stainless steel-housed beauties, which costs about $300-$325, depending on where you buy it. Add an extra $100 or so if you want the one with the power nozzle but it really doesn’t need it. Customers rate this product very highly, saying that it can “suck the spots off a leopard”.
But in my search for a reasonably-priced apartment model washer/dryer, either separate, stackable units or a combined washer/drier, I found the Speed Queen unit to be vastly overpriced compared to others, especially the Haier washer/dryer combo. The Haier costs about $800 and runs on 120 V current, which is a must because I’m not about to pony up $400 to run a 220 V line in a rental apartment just for my drier. It would make more sense just to keep using the machines in the basement. The Speed Queen stacked units require 220 V and cost over $2000. This isn’t even a choice. Interesting that the super-well paid and underworked German workforce can turn out such an excellent machine as the Haier for so little money.
GE and Frigidaire make durable, reliable appliances and are relocating much of their manufacturing here. Beginning 2013, Frigidaire, which is owned by Electrolux of Europe, will be producing their induction cooktops and french door refrigerators in N.C. Many European appliance and auto makers still maintain manufacturing here, as do a couple of Japanese auto makers. The Toyota Camry, Honda Accord,Honda Pilot, and Toyota Sienna are all in the top five most “American” made cars, in that they are built here and 75% of their parts are American, making them more “American” than many vehicles manufactured by our own big three.
Like or Dislike:
3 
0
20th November 2012 at 7:07 am
ragman says:
I try to “buy American” whenever I can but it is increasingly difficult to do so. My 2012 F250 diesel is 75% “American built” but the engine was assembled in Mexico. Those of us flying to be with family and friends for the upcoming holiday season will be flying on Boeing or Airbus airplanes powered by combined US/European made engines. Does this make the truck or the jets inferior? Of course not! What really pisses me off is the lack of well-made alternatives to the every day shit that is only available from China. Not a day goes by that I don’t comment “I’d gladly pay a couple of bucks more for _______ made in America that will last more than 10 fucking minutes”. A safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving to all!
Like or Dislike:
3 
0
20th November 2012 at 8:41 am
TeresaE says:
We have reached the Walmart Apex, or the point where their business model starts to cannibalize itself.
1. Force American suppliers to “compete” with Asia, and offer 8% rebates annually, while inputs rise and your customer costs you your business.
2. Bankrupt American suppliers and send their jobs & equipment overseas.
3. Stand back and do/say nothing as your new Asian suppliers start buying America’s natural resource and basic necessity companies – steal, coal, oil, etc.
4. Rake in the cash as millions of Americans reach the point where they can’t afford to care about the origins of the products, they don’t have enough cash to have what they want AND support the local companies.
5. Get tax abatements as times get tougher, rake in the cash.
6. Watch your customers get poorer and more government dependent while raking in the cash.
7. Watch your bottom line start to shrink as inputs rise (China has zero incentive to continue kissing WallyWorld or GM’s asses as our middle class dies and items become equally valuable inside their own borders). Ditto on bottom line as the middle east implodes.
8. Collapse in on yourself as your bloated business model reveals that offshoring your supply chain may not have been the smartest thing to do as your customers continue to see their incomes shrink.
We are at 7. The Big 3 already hit #8 – and were bankrupted – because they provide products that (used to) require family-supporting incomes and really shot themselves in the foot when they moved their supplier base to Asia and, in essence, bankrupted their best customers. I know former suppliers that used to mandate executives buy/lease new American products every couple years. I worked for a couple companies that banned foreign cars for any staff that visited customers. Off shoring their suppliers should have killed them. Thanks taxpayer and nationalization for “saving” American jobs.
Because of trying to stock up for the coming collapse, and reality, I buy way too much at Costco. But I pick and choose and try to keep equal money (that buys much less) going to my local guys.
At the shop we source American fasteners as much as humanly possible. The reality is many things are no longer being made here at all and are impossible to find American-produced. Talking to others in my industry, most of us are hanging on by a wing and a prayer. Next year is going to prove telling as the realities of declining sales hits dramatically increased overhead. My guess is we will see the re-acceleration of death of the little guy.
Benny, Obama and his union followers, have managed to paper over (or just lie) and keep the mirage going. This is about to end and millions of clueless consumers, local politicians and small biz owners are going to hit next summer wondering what in the hell happened, what in the hell is going on, and how in the hell is the government going to save them this time.
The new normal, steadily getting worse while our American iPods tell us how great it all is.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
8 
0
20th November 2012 at 9:17 am
TeresaE says:
Ragman, where did you get the stat about your truck being “75% American built?”
I know that much of the components are foreign sourced only to be stuck together within our borders thus gifted with an “American produced” label.
Just curious if you have actual info on suppliers of the components, or are just guessing because of where some of the stuff is assembled?
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
20th November 2012 at 9:58 am
» BUY AMERICAN? « The Burning Platform says:
[...] BUY AMERICAN? « The Burning Platform Go to this article [...]
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
20th November 2012 at 10:14 am
ragman says:
I googled “what % of trucks are American parts”. It’s also interesting that the Toyotas built here are about the same. Pleasant surprise! Also the motor was definitely assembled in Mexico.
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
20th November 2012 at 10:30 am
Maddie's Mom says:
I buy American-made every chance I get and stay out of WalMart as much as possible.
Here’s a site I shop occasionally. They have 346 items made in the USA. Check it out!
http://www.plowhearth.com/made-in-the-usa/feature_s2007_d_c1021.html
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
20th November 2012 at 11:00 pm
Kill Bill says:
http://www.food-info.net/uk/qa/qa-fp121.htm
Bar codes give the country of origin [or should]
Like or Dislike:
2 
0
20th November 2012 at 11:34 pm
Kill Bill says:
Bankrupt American suppliers and send their jobs & equipment overseas.
3. Stand back and do/say nothing as your new Asian suppliers start buying America’s natural resource and basic necessity companies – steal, coal, oil, etc.
~~~
Rmoney Approves Of Ths Message.
Like or Dislike:
3 
0
20th November 2012 at 11:42 am
IndenturedServant says:
Chicago 999444, you might try shopping around for the Speed Queen appliances you want. I bought the AWN 432 and ADE3LR W/D combo for about $1318 including tax from a very reputable and long time local dealer. I could have bought it a bit cheaper in several places including online with free shipping but I prefer to support local businesses when ever I can.
I was not aware that they even made 120v electric clothes dryers. They must cost a fortune to run. Do you have gas? If you have gas, you do not need a 220v line. Speed queen makes gas dryers. It can’t hurt to ask the landlord to pony up all or part of the cost of running a 220v line since it will improve the rentability of the apartment.
I chose Speed Queen for three reasons. 1) They clean clothes extremely well! 2) They are made in America. 3) They have NO digital parts or computer boards/sensors that go bad. This was extremely important to me as these digital parts can cost up to half the cost of the entire appliance to replace. The Speed Queen units built today are nearly exact clones of what you grandparents or parents bought 40-60 years ago. You want hot water in your washer? Simply select hot on the dial and you get hot instead of whatever some fucking EPA drone has mandated your washer (bought with your own money) is allowed to dispense. I could not be happier with my purchase.
I_S
Like or Dislike:
2 
0
20th November 2012 at 9:14 pm
TeresaE says:
Kill Bill says:
Bankrupt American suppliers and send their jobs & equipment overseas.
3. Stand back and do/say nothing as your new Asian suppliers start buying America’s natural resource and basic necessity companies – steal, coal, oil, etc.
~~~
Rmoney Approves Of Ths Message.
As does Obama, Boehner, Pelosi, Bush I&II, Clinton, Gingrich, McCain, Kerry, etc., etc., etc.
Equal opportunity destruction and delusion. They all agree
and sold our asses out.
We pretend there is a difference.
Like or Dislike:
2 
0
20th November 2012 at 2:03 pm
workingman says:
Chicago999444,
I think you will find that Haier is Chinese, not German.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haier
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
20th November 2012 at 10:25 pm