Buying American

Do you think that it is important to 'Buy American,' and do you seek out American made products over those that are manufactured overseas?

If given a choice (in a store), I would try to "Buy American" unless the price difference was cost prohibitive. The problem is trying to find something made in the U.S. that you can take to the cash register. To answer your question, Chris, yes I do think it's important that we support U.S. manufacturing jobs.

http://www.americansworking.com/clothingmens.html

Anyone old enough besides Shale and me to remember these commercials?

As much as possible I do. Like Alan said, it would have to still be in a reasonable price range.

I buy based on quality. Couldn't care less what country of origin it is from. If American-owned companies want to compete with overseas, then they will build their products with as much precision and benefit as their Japanese or European competitors. My money isn't "patriotic," it's for my own convenience.

If you can actually find something made in the US. It's a long way from what a lot of us grew up with when the US was a leading manufacturer. But the most important thing for me is quality. If the product made in the US is a good quality & fairly priced, I'll buy it over an import. But it's happening a lot less often these days.

The problem w/ "Buying American" is that "American" COSTS MORE and ain't as good.

Robbie, I agree that "made in America" sometimes costs more but that's because the companies who still manufacture goods in this country pay their employees a living wage. I disagree, though, that "made in America" is synonymous with “cheap piece of shit”. You're probably too young to remember when "made in Japan" was synonomous with "cheap piece of shit". You have to read the labels. Not everything marketed under an "American" name is an American made product.

stonestatic wrote:I buy based on quality. Couldn't care less what country of origin it is from. If American-owned companies want to compete with overseas, then they will build their products with as much precision and benefit as their Japanese or European competitors. My money isn't "patriotic," it's for my own convenience.

. There is a reason why America doesn't export as much as they import. As far as electronics and cars go........NE-VER buy American. However, there a few things that America manufactures that are of good quality. I can't think of any off hand, but I'm sure there are.

alan smithee wrote:Robbie, I agree that "made in America" sometimes costs more but that's because the companies who still manufacture goods in this country pay their employees a living wage. I disagree, though, that "made in America" is synonymous with “cheap piece of shit”. You're probably too young to remember when "made in Japan" was synonomous with "cheap piece of shit". You have to read the labels. Not everything marketed under an "American" name is an American made product.

That's true. Take for example the Big Three. GM, Ford, Chrysler all paid their employees considerably more for working in their plants than Toyota or Honda. However when you really look at it, why do they get paid more? Is it because American uses cheaper and quality inferior products for their vehicles, therefore they have the money to pay them more? I mean, I think there should be room for everybody, but I also think this economy just made people aware of how they need to spend their money wisely. If you're going to spend 20k on a car, I would think you'd want to spend 20k on something that's going to last for 20+ years and for something that you're not going to have to keep putting money into.

Nystyle709 wrote:

alan smithee wrote:Robbie, I agree that "made in America" sometimes costs more but that's because the companies who still manufacture goods in this country pay their employees a living wage. I disagree, though, that "made in America" is synonymous with “cheap piece of shit”. You're probably too young to remember when "made in Japan" was synonomous with "cheap piece of shit". You have to read the labels. Not everything marketed under an "American" name is an American made product.

That's true. Take for example the Big Three. GM, Ford, Chrysler all paid their employees considerably more for working in their plants than Toyota or Honda. However when you really look at it, why do they get paid more? Is it because American uses cheaper and quality inferior products for their vehicles, therefore they have the money to pay them more? I mean, I think there should be room for everybody, but I also think this economy just made people aware of how they need to spend their money wisely. If you're going to spend 20k on a car, I would think you'd want to spend 20k on something that's going to last for 20+ years and for something that you're not going to have to keep putting money into.

Maybe there's something to that...I don't know. I think the main reason the U.S. auto industry in particular fell behind Japan was because they got too fat and lazy. I completely agree that if I’m going to pay thousands of my dollars, I’m going to look out for me first too.

I'm for whatever works, whether it be American or not.

I'll buy American...but not at the expense of quality, adequate customer service or significantly higher prices.

stonestatic wrote:I buy based on quality. Couldn't care less what country of origin it is from. If American-owned companies want to compete with overseas, then they will build their products with as much precision and benefit as their Japanese or European competitors. My money isn't "patriotic," it's for my own convenience.

This.