Buying American...or are you?

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Eghad

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In May, in the midst of the Ford Motor Co.'s "Red, White & Bold," buy-American ad campaign touting its classic Mustangs, the research firm CSM Worldwide (using statistics from the U.S. Department of Transportation) revealed that 35 percent of the 2006 Mustang's content came from overseas, and in fact, that five Honda models and seven Toyota models contained more U.S. content than the Mustang, including Toyota's Sienna minivan, which was 90 percent U.S. [Wall Street Journal, 5-11-06]

amazing and sad.
 
My "American" Dodge Grand Caravan was built by Canadian union labor in Windsor, Ontario.

My neighbor's "Japanese" Toyota Camry was built by American workers in Georgetown, Kentucky.

Both were sold by American car dealers who got to put food on the table at home as a result. Nothing "sad" about that.

Capitalism is American.
 
Capitalism is American
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Stating that does not make it all ok, even in capitalism there needs to be standards, morals and due to greed American corporations have sold out the American worker.
 
and due to greed American workers have sold out the American corporations.

Flipped arround its still true.
When workers demand more pay, they are just living the American dream.
When corporations demand more profit they are "selling out America?"
 
Based upon my observations over many years while working unionized jobs, American workers, including union workers, seem to have no hesitation about buying foreign-made goods because they are less expensive and then complaining when they lose jobs to foreign manufacturers.
 
A friend of mine runs a small t-shirt business as a sideline.

Just before Harley Davidson's 100th anniversary celebration, he went to the shop that prints his shirts to see how his order was coming along.

The shop owner said they were busy re-labeling the HD shirts. When my friend asked what that meant, the owner told him they had to remove the "made in China" labels and replace them with "made in the USA" labels.
 
Nothing "sad" about that.
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I agree there is nothing sad about buying one or selling one.I just bought a lever action 1887 made in China and also own a 97 repro made in China. So no argument from me there. Even the 15 year service pin I got a as A Department of Defense Employee was made in China...

The sad part was once that we made the vast majority of our stuff right here in the USA. The industrial base has slid slowly down the crapper is the sad part.
 
The motor in my Jeep was made in Mexico. The Jeep also has parts from Canada. Final assembly was in Toledo, OH.

"Made in America" hasn't meant 100% US parts and labor in a very long time for a great many products. How far down the line do you want to go before you consider something "American"? Our country imports a lot of raw materials. Do you go to that level?

If I have a choice between two products, and one of them has a higher percentage of US-value-added elements, I usually opt for that one even if it costs more, assuming quality levels are comparable. If quality levels are not comparable, I go for the better quality product. If US companies want my dollars, I want quality in exchange. I see no reason to subsidize inferior quality. That just encourages more of the same.

I've had Japanese cars and motor cycles. I've never had any problems with them. Good products at good prices. I've had American cars. I've had problems with the older ones, but not with the newer ones, so I buy American. My Jeep is the most enjoyable vehicle I've ever owned.

I'm convinced that US companies and US workers can make the best quality products in the world at competitive prices. I'm not convinced they are always committed to doing so.
 
while i prefer to have American Made products in my house (okay, my wife is from Denmark) im more concerned about WHERE my money goes AFTER the sale...

do i buy a 90% American, Toyota built in Kentucky with the money being siphoned off to the Land of the Rising Sun? or do i buy the 76% American, Ford built in Mexico with the money being redirected into the American economy via Dearborn?

to me its the American Company. if i have a say, i will get an American (U.S.) built American product. i will ALWAYS avoid the transplants...

i have no hard proof but the story ive heard is that UNION jobs spin off about 14 more jobs down the line. NON-union jobs spin off about 6. maybe 8...

the transplants aren't union...

david
 
While the "Made In America" label may give you a case of the warm fuzzies, the reality is that we now live in a truely global economy.

I'm willing to bet that union labor demands have pissed away more job opportunities overseas than the 'greedy' corporations ever could have.

I buy from whomever and wherever I get the most bang from my buck within reason. I don't search for "Made in USA" labels when I shop and I don't necessarily believe an American made product is superior in quality and value over a foreign made product.
I am brand loyal to certain things based on quality and value. Some of those brands are foreign, others domestic.

Steve,
Who drives a Nissan pickup built by American labor.

PS: To keep this gun related I own guns from USA, Turkey, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Spain and Korea.:p
 
Marko already said it. American companies got rid of their workers and moved the jobs out of the country so they wouldn't have to pay anyone. Japanese, German and other foreign countries have been opening plants in the US and giving US workers jobs. I lost a decent job in 1980 when the company claimed they had no work, then turned around and contracted it out to Japanese firms so they wouldn't have to pay us. I lost another job of 22 years this past fall because the great American company I worked for didn't want to pay us. Now I work for a fraction of what I made wondering how I'm going to keep affording gas for my car.

So, why should I support our fine, patriotic US companies that got rid of us and put us on the unemployment line?

Gun related. I own Smith and Wessons and a Sig that was built in New Hampshire.
 
do i buy a 90% American, Toyota built in Kentucky with the money being siphoned off to the Land of the Rising Sun? or do i buy the 76% American, Ford built in Mexico with the money being redirected into the American economy via Dearborn?
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Toyota Motor Corp is traded on the New York stock exchange (symbol TM), the same as Ford Motor Co. (symbol F).

The NYSE doesn't stop Americans from buying stock in Toyota, nor does it stop Japanese from buying stock in Ford.

Are there more Toyota stockholders in Japan than America? probably. How many more? I have no idea.

I'm just not convinced any more that a company that sells products world-wide, manufactures world-wide, and is publicly-owned belongs to a certain country just because it started there. The only thing that makes it "belong" to a country is that their corporate offices are located there.

Some food for thought.

To keep it gun related, I own a Ruger (made in US), and a Taurus (made in Brazil). Both guns are great, and both are great values. Value is important to me.
 
Try finding ANYTHING made in America at WalMart, K-Mart, or most of the other popular places people shop. It isn't just big ticket items that are made elsewhere. Boots for example. It is VERY difficult to find footwear made in America.
 
I think what matters most is where the check goes when you buy the car. Where does the money wind up? Tokyo or Detroit?
 
I think what matters most is where the check goes when you buy the car. Where does the money wind up? Tokyo or Detroit?
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Likely both, and a lot of other places too. For example, some went to the Mexicans who built my Jeep's engine, some went to the Canadians who supplied various parts, some went to the Americans who did final assembly in Toledo, a lot went to Daimler-Chrysler, where some of it went to Germany and Detroit, and then some of it went to dividends to stock holders who live all over the world.
 
I have been assiduously buying American wines, sake and artisanal cheeses. Except for Swiss extra aged Appenzeller which I love.

This frosts me. I pull into the supermarket parking lot and next to me is a gigantic Cadillac Escalade driven by one dude. So maybe it is an American car but it is a direct knee pad connection from American to the Middle East. So is buying an Asian car that gets 40 MPG (made in America most likely) better than an American company car that causes us to whore to our enemies?
 
Alright, let me put it another way......................

Where does the profit go? I'm sure the cost is spread around, especially when you buy things from different markets to insure the biggest margins.
But, where does the profit go, Detroit(and/or your neighbor) or Tokyo?
 
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