How Important is Made in the USA?

[sweettractors]

i'd be happy with a completely: "made in north america" product. aside from putting mayonnaise on french fries, our neighbors to the north of the border are pretty similar to us, and i'd hate to make any decisions that would cut them out, since they are such close neighbors.

i worked in steel fabrication for many years, and a large portion of small hot rolled shapes (the sizes used in small farm equipment, trailers, etc.) used to be rolled in canadian mini-mills. i'm not sure if that is still the case. i remember working jobs where we required domestic material only, so we were unable to use the canadian product, even though it was completely up to our standards.

i'm not one to want to place blame or complain about quality, but most people will agree that the quality of inexpensive metal products being imported from asia is not as good as we'd like to see. that's really not the case with canadian products. they're a nation very similar to ours. same language for the most part, similar lifestyles, industry, standard of living, etc. i live in a border state so i see a lot of people coming in to shop here, so i'd like to think that while we want to keep things closer to home, canada is close enough to be included. i have also worked in mexico in the past, and i can't say the same. crossing that border does put you in a different world.

You make a good point. If I buy a implement and pay 10 % more and it is made in the uSA, I would like to know where the basic ingredient comes from? Asia, No thanks. Canada, Germany or USA is fine by me. Ken Sweet

 

[rmully]

The biggest problem is parts. There are many Chinese implements around at good prices but if it breaks and the dealer does not have it in stock you are SOL for a long time or pay dearly for the part to be expressed over. Looks good but I would not take a chance. Italy is the worst, you get the part when they get around to it.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Would I pay 10% more? Yes. The issue is the prices I see around here on implements is usually 40% or more. Case in point I needed a new RFM. My first one, King Kutter made in America was junk. I had it 3 years and put $800 in replacement parts into it. 3 years and $800 on a mower that was just over $1000 new = junk to me.:thumbsup:

Anyway went shopping for a 72" RFM in 2007. I wanted simplicity. That is where the KK lacked with all its idlers, long belt, ect. Anyway went shopping. Looked at Frontier, Land Pride, Woods, and a few others. Ended up with a Caroni. It was $1200 out the door versus $1800 or more for the others. Its been the best implement I own. I use it 4-5 hours a week for 4 years and not put one new part on it. Just grease it every other week and change the gear oil once a year.

As for my other implements I have a King Kutter 2 bottom plow, and 50 year old Ford Disc, a Ford PHD, a Ford Bush Hog, a Woods 7' Rear Grader Blade, a 6' Howse Grader Blade, and a few more I can not remember. Man, Ford made some great implements. Did not realize I had so many.

Chris

 

[Chilly807]

As a Canadian, I have to say I'm touched by some of the replies I've seen in this thread. I always figured we were good neighbours on both sides of the fence, but I didn't realize how much faith the American people have in us.

As I posted earlier, if I can find something made in North America it goes to the top of the list if I can afford it.

A case in point is my recent shopping for engineered hardwood flooring. I could find made in Canada for $9-10 per sq foot, and Chinese for $3-4 per sq. foot.

When I commented that I wasn't too interested in the Chinese stuff, the clerk (local store) asked why. I replied that I had some misgivings about build standards and asbestos/formaldehyde/etc inclusions, generally that our products had to meet certain standards before they could be sold here.

She laughed at me, saying there was no reason that I could expect to find things like asbestos or formaldehyde in flooring from China.

I looked her straight in the eye, and said, "No, and there's no good reason they would have put melamine in pet food or baby formula either..."

Needless to say, she didn't sell me any flooring. I found a Quebec product for about $5 per sq. foot.

I will say this, though.. as Canadians, we take great pride in producing the very best beavers on the market today..


Sean

 

[Builder]

As a Canadian, I have to say I'm touched by some of the replies I've seen in this thread. I always figured we were good neighbours on both sides of the fence, but I didn't realize how much faith the American people have in us.

As I posted earlier, if I can find something made in North America it goes to the top of the list if I can afford it.

A case in point is my recent shopping for engineered hardwood flooring. I could find made in Canada for $9-10 per sq foot, and Chinese for $3-4 per sq. foot.

When I commented that I wasn't too interested in the Chinese stuff, the clerk (local store) asked why. I replied that I had some misgivings about build standards and asbestos/formaldehyde/etc inclusions, generally that our products had to meet certain standards before they could be sold here.

She laughed at me, saying there was no reason that I could expect to find things like asbestos or formaldehyde in flooring from China.

I looked her straight in the eye, and said, "No, and there's no good reason they would have put melamine in pet food or baby formula either..."

Needless to say, she didn't sell me any flooring. I found a Quebec product for about $5 per sq. foot.

I will say this, though.. as Canadians, we take great pride in producing the very best beavers on the market today..


Sean

Can't wait till my Arctic plow shows up. Bought an Arctic Skid steer mount poly plow with galvanized steel frame finish. IMO, they are the best on the market if you look at their features. :thumbsup:
Arctic Snowplows - Heavy Duty Skid Steer Trip Edge Poly [HDSSTE-P]

Your beer ain't bad, either.

 

[CCWKen]

I hate being the sour grape in this "pole" but the fact is, most Americans buy on price. And what exactly does "10% more" mean? More than what? 10% more than the highest priced alternative? If manufacturing costs go up 10%, the retail level goes up 20%. I don't know how a company can simply pass along 1:1 increases and stay in business. And is that 10% based on production capacity or simply a raw figure?

I'll bet everyone here shops at Walmart. 90%+ of their products are from off-shore manufactures. They didn't get to be Number One in sales by offering quality American products to the up-scale buyers. They got their by selling CHEAP products to low and middle income buyers. (The largest group of buyers.) And, I can't think of a single modern tractor "made" in the USA. It can't be done. Our car companies can't even do it. Between the EPA and labor unions, few US companies can compete on the global market unless costs are reduced. They're reduced by lowering costs in materials or labor. The materials come from off-shore or cheapened in other ways. The labor is reduced by using robots.

I don't know about every one's area but in this part of the country, all the steel comes from Mexico or India. So nothing in the South is truly "made in USA". It's simply fabricated or assembled here. The commerce laws have been changed to allow very lenient manufacturing claims in the US. Made in USA just doesn't carry the weight it used to.

Most here say; "Oh yeah I'll buy American" but when it comes time to lay out the cash, few follow through. The one's that do are not in the major purchasing group.

 

[lostcause]

I hate being the sour grape in this "pole" but the fact is, most Americans buy on price. And what exactly does "10% more" mean? More than what? 10% more than the highest priced alternative? If manufacturing costs go up 10%, the retail level goes up 20%. I don't know how a company can simply pass along 1:1 increases and stay in business. And is that 10% based on production capacity or simply a raw figure?

I'll bet everyone here shops at Walmart. 90%+ of their products are from off-shore manufactures. They didn't get to be Number One in sales by offering quality American products to the up-scale buyers. They got their by selling CHEAP products to low and middle income buyers. (The largest group of buyers.) And, I can't think of a single modern tractor "made" in the USA. It can't be done. Our car companies can't even do it. Between the EPA and labor unions, few US companies can compete on the global market unless costs are reduced. They're reduced by lowering costs in materials or labor. The materials come from off-shore or cheapened in other ways. The labor is reduced by using robots.

I don't know about every one's area but in this part of the country, all the steel comes from Mexico or India. So nothing in the South is truly "made in USA". It's simply fabricated or assembled here. The commerce laws have been changed to allow very lenient manufacturing claims in the US. Made in USA just doesn't carry the weight it used to.

Most here say; "Oh yeah I'll buy American" but when it comes time to lay out the cash, few follow through. The one's that do are not in the major purchasing group.

i agree that it's totally impossible to buy completely american made, and also probably totally pointless, as some things may not be worth making here without incredible resource outlay. maybe more than following this theory to the letter is to follow it in spirit. it's painfully obvious that we lack american made (or even just quality made) equipment now. as many have stated, they are using 30+ year old implements because those are still more dependable than the fast-food big-box bargain-priced import variety equipment available today.

sure, maybe the rest of the world isn't ready to jump ship from the walmart era, but there is a portion of the population, and a portion of the products sold that just don't lend themselves to that type of manufacturing and sale practice, as many are finally discovering. it's ok if your chinese made pool noodle breaks the first trip to the beach, but when you rely on your chinese made implement for your every day use, that's another story. there's some things that need better quality control, and from my experience, quality control is often directly proportional to the distance between the manufacturer and the buyer. call it a grass roots campaign to get some skilled labor and manufacturing back into the country... call it a cottage industry with room to grow... call it whatever you want, but at least it's an attempt to fill a needed void. if someone can make quality products at even close to the price of poor ones, then they may well be headed in the right direction.

i agree that what you are saying is correct, but it is my belief that we, as a people, often look at certain things and say: "it won't work, so why bother" i think we're reaching a point where we've taken the "why bother" attitude too much, and we need to make a change and instead of finding a dozen reasons why it won't work, we need to say we're doing it and then work at figuring out how to make it work.

 

[Builder]

I hate being the sour grape in this "pole" but the fact is, most Americans buy on price. And what exactly does "10% more" mean? More than what? 10% more than the highest priced alternative? If manufacturing costs go up 10%, the retail level goes up 20%. I don't know how a company can simply pass along 1:1 increases and stay in business. And is that 10% based on production capacity or simply a raw figure?

I'll bet everyone here shops at Walmart. 90%+ of their products are from off-shore manufactures. They didn't get to be Number One in sales by offering quality American products to the up-scale buyers. They got their by selling CHEAP products to low and middle income buyers. (The largest group of buyers.) And, I can't think of a single modern tractor "made" in the USA. It can't be done. Our car companies can't even do it. Between the EPA and labor unions, few US companies can compete on the global market unless costs are reduced. They're reduced by lowering costs in materials or labor. The materials come from off-shore or cheapened in other ways. The labor is reduced by using robots.

I don't know about every one's area but in this part of the country, all the steel comes from Mexico or India. So nothing in the South is truly "made in USA". It's simply fabricated or assembled here. The commerce laws have been changed to allow very lenient manufacturing claims in the US. Made in USA just doesn't carry the weight it used to.

Most here say; "Oh yeah I'll buy American" but when it comes time to lay out the cash, few follow through. The one's that do are not in the major purchasing group.

Don't you think a truck or tractor, made of thousands of individual components, is a little different than a box blade, made of perhaps 20 components in that it CAN be manufactured in the USA of all US materials? Is it so beyond the imagination that you can't find some sheet metal, some ripper spikes, some bolts and a steel frame made here for a tractor attachment?

Wee bit of a difference between the two, don't you think???

 

[dcyrilc]

I hate being the sour grape in this "pole" but the fact is, most Americans buy on price. And what exactly does "10% more" mean? More than what? 10% more than the highest priced alternative? If manufacturing costs go up 10%, the retail level goes up 20%. I don't know how a company can simply pass along 1:1 increases and stay in business. And is that 10% based on production capacity or simply a raw figure?

I'll bet everyone here shops at Walmart. 90%+ of their products are from off-shore manufactures. They didn't get to be Number One in sales by offering quality American products to the up-scale buyers. They got their by selling CHEAP products to low and middle income buyers. (The largest group of buyers.) And, I can't think of a single modern tractor "made" in the USA. It can't be done. Our car companies can't even do it. Between the EPA and labor unions, few US companies can compete on the global market unless costs are reduced. They're reduced by lowering costs in materials or labor. The materials come from off-shore or cheapened in other ways. The labor is reduced by using robots.

I don't know about every one's area but in this part of the country, all the steel comes from Mexico or India. So nothing in the South is truly "made in USA". It's simply fabricated or assembled here. The commerce laws have been changed to allow very lenient manufacturing claims in the US. Made in USA just doesn't carry the weight it used to.

Most here say; "Oh yeah I'll buy American" but when it comes time to lay out the cash, few follow through. The one's that do are not in the major purchasing group.

Been to a WalMart, ONCE, never been back. Same goes for Harbor Freight. Nothing of interest for me there. 99% of the stuff is garbage. I go to Home Depot around once or twice a year, Only because everyone else is out of what I'm after. I'd rather pay a little more at the local hardware store and keep them in business than spend it at a chain store.

 

[CCWKen]

Don't you think a truck or tractor, made of thousands of individual components, is a little different than a box blade, made of perhaps 20 components in that it CAN be manufactured in the USA of all US materials? Is it so beyond the imagination that you can't find some sheet metal, some ripper spikes, some bolts and a steel frame made here for a tractor attachment?

Wee bit of a difference between the two, don't you think???

There's none in your list made in the USA. Unless of course you use some aircraft or specialty bolts. Except for some specialty steels, NO steel is produced in the US. Where are you going to buy the material except from off-shore makers? It doesn't make any difference if you're making buttons or building a skyscraper, the US doesn't make the steel anymore. It's not here to buy.