"American" Products

[man00]

Whirlpool Corp had a plant near me and at one time there were 4500 people working there. They slowly move most of the operations to Mexico.
Whirlpool said over and over that the cost of labor was so much lower in Mexico that they could pass savings to the consumer and compete with other manufacturers. Couple of years later the local media did a follow up after the local plant closed comparing prices..there was never a drop in price to the consumer even paying $2.25hr wages to the Mexicans...Whirlpool said it was mostly due to cost of shipping products back to the states.

 

[PILOON]

I had a product (electronic) that re labeled to sell to mainly non Canadian markets.
Marketing was mainly via trade shows (in USA) and I was granted gov't subsidies to attend the show.
Being electronics about 99% was offshore and my net cost was in the $160-70 range.
Export Canada insisted that I label 'made in Canada' and even supplied the labels.
Our 'retail was $2500. and dealer less 25%.

Legal definition was that 50% Canadian content qualified it as Canadian, and mark ups, taxes and profits constitute that %age.
Shipping actually can sway the ratio; prepaid is content while FOB destination hurts the balance.

To my knowledge the same type of rules apply in the USA, or did.

Being fairly knowledgeable of the tool market I can state that practically every hand and or power tool is no longer entirely made in either USA or Canada, with very few exceptions.
Between Stanley and Black & Decker (who make many popular private label brands) they just about cover the market with 'off shore 'production while under the cover of using 'good ole US' brand names.

 

[k0ua]

July 31, 3016

"Buy Earth-made products, not those cheap imports from Mars."



Bruce

Yes, I prefer Earth made, but as for the Mars products, most of them are actually pretty good. BUT I draw the line, at this cheap counterfeit, knock off's that come out of those nasty sweat shop colonies in the asteroid belt. Just because they have access to cheap raw materials. (heck some of those asteroids are near pure iron ore) and they treat their workers like animals, working in filthy conditions, is no excuse for sneaking in and violating our tariffs.

A line has to be drawn somewhere, and I draw it at the orbit of the 4th planet. That far and NO further.

 

[KWRB]

I see a maker's mark on the discs. They say Grizzly. As best I can tell, these are distributed by Agmate, which is in NC, but made in Brazil.

I can only imagine they're using who-knows steel and no material certs ever see the quality office. I've also got a fair amount of certainty that I know where that steel comes from, and it ain't Pennsylvania.

 

[Wagtail]

Yes, I prefer Earth made, but as for the Mars products, most of them are actually pretty good. BUT I draw the line, at this cheap counterfeit, knock off's that come out of those nasty sweat shop colonies in the asteroid belt. Just because they have access to cheap raw materials. (heck some of those asteroids are near pure iron ore) and they treat their workers like animals, working in filthy conditions, is no excuse for sneaking in and violating our tariffs.

A line has to be drawn somewhere, and I draw it at the orbit of the 4th planet. That far and NO further.

Bloody First "World" sentiments! You Terrans have had it too good for to long!

Is it the 'Asties' fault that transport prices/energy for a sling-shot orbital delivery to Earth's door-step is negligible?!

 

[k0ua]

Bloody First "World" sentiments! You Terrans have had it too good for to long!

Is it the 'Asties' fault that transport prices/energy for a sling-shot orbital delivery to Earth's door-step is negligible?!

Good one!

 

[LD1]

I see a maker's mark on the discs. They say Grizzly. .

 

[KWRB]

As in, a name of the manufacturer of the disc blades. The blades say Grizzly. After a little more looking the blades may be Indian or Brazilian. I also confirmed that there are American disc blade manufacturers, so there's another component they chose not to source domestically.

 

[Turbys_1700]

I just bought a New Holland Workmaster. My tractor was made in India, with a Fiat engine, and a front end loader sourced from ALO, a Swedish company that was manufactured in Telford Tennessee. Sorta makes my head spin.

 

[LD1]

I don't even try to keep track of what is made where anymore. It's a global marketplace.

I am gonna buy what I feel is the best value period. And value is a function of quality vs cost. For something I plan on using once or twice, I don't need high quality long lasting, but rather a cheap price is more important. For other things, I am willing to pay more (within reason) for a quality product that will last.

If I need a specialty tool, say I can spend $20 for something that will last only a few uses, or $200 for something that will hold up to hundreds of uses......

While the more expensive tool seems like the better value, if I need it only once, is it really?