Just how do you BUY AMERICAN?

[rtdiggr]

I will never buy a Chinese tractor, truck or car. Some of the parts may be from China-there's nothing I can do about that, but no way a Chinese nameplate. I don't care how cheap they are.

My reasons are many but many Americans died defending China from the Japanese invasion at the beginning of WWII. Our country saved China from being overrun by Japan and the thanks we get from China is billions in patent infringement, unfair trade imbalances, dumping of their products into our markets subsidized by their govenment and currency manipulation on a massive scale. Now China is performing naval excersises with that clown in Venezuela out near Cuba.

Call me crazy or laugh, but China is harming us everyday, yet Americans don't care. They just keep buying their cheap, plentiful products on a massive scale. As much as I hate to say it, Americans are just too stupid to know that they are bit by bit digging their way to a lower social status with every Chinese product they buy.

Someday, this will all come back to haunt us. At a minimum, we will lose our world power status to China if we don't begin to reverse the process. China is building factories and infrastructure at a furious pace and America is tearing her's down just as fast.

Well said,

My job depends on people buying domestic, and i think that now people are starting to lose jobs friend,relatives, spouses etc. People are starting to get the hint.

My wifes uncle will be losing his job making parts for Ford and GM the only funny part is his parents how a brand new Honda parked in the driveway, and they wonder why he is losing his job.

Shane

 

[queen of spades]

I bought my last Chinese rake this past summer. Bought the most expensive one, the head fell off after 10 minutes of normal use. It was a press fit, just fell right out.

Found Midwest Rake - Home - they manufacture rakes, shovels, hoes, axes, pruning shears, swing blades, everything.. All of it is made in America including the steel used in the tools. The rake I bought cost $40 and is the most heavy duty rake I've ever used. I can't praise these guys enough. And with so many of our jobs going overseas it is good to support American workers and manufacturing.

 

[Builder]

I bought my last Chinese rake this past summer. Bought the most expensive one, the head fell off after 10 minutes of normal use. It was a press fit, just fell right out.

Found Midwest Rake - Home - they manufacture rakes, shovels, hoes, axes, pruning shears, swing blades, everything.. All of it is made in America including the steel used in the tools. The rake I bought cost $40 and is the most heavy duty rake I've ever used. I can't praise these guys enough. And with so many of our jobs going overseas it is good to support American workers and manufacturing.

I predict the way that US manufacturinfg will make its' comeback is that people will finally have enough of their junk breaking after a few short uses and demand something better. Most of the older US companies have gone out of business, so folks like you and I will go to smaller local US companies. Some of these small companies will get great reputations and become our next industrial giants, taking over the old bankrupt companies.

 

[Builder]

Well said,

My job depends on people buying domestic, and i think that now people are starting to lose jobs friend,relatives, spouses etc. People are starting to get the hint.

My wifes uncle will be losing his job making parts for Ford and GM the only funny part is his parents how a brand new Honda parked in the driveway, and they wonder why he is losing his job.

Shane

I'm sure Canada is in the same boat as the US.

 

[scott_vt]

I predict the way that US manufacturinfg will make its' comeback is that people will finally have enough of their junk breaking after a few short uses and demand something better. Most of the older US companies have gone out of business, so folks like you and I will go to smaller local US companies. Some of these small companies will get great reputations and become our next industrial giants, taking over the old bankrupt companies.

Good Afternoon Builder,
That sounds like a great scenario, I truly hope your right ! If we could convince more people with that philosophy, maybe it could happen sooner than later !

 

[Cat_Driver]

No Country on the planet can compete with the Chinese. One needs to understand that products are being made by prison labor for like twenty five cents a day for free for a day.

I invented a product and needed a proto type done and spent a year dealing with US Companies and the prices I was getting would floor you. 25K just to do the mold and then they had minimums like several thousand to do a run and that would have cost me over 100K. Well I was this close to dumping my invention when I sent the whole works to China. They not only CAD designed my product made a mold and produce 500 units for 5K.

So what is one to do really, who's fault id it? Is it the workers here in the US for demanding high wages, health care 401K etc. Is it the Government for demanding a safe work place and environmental laws. Is it the business for wanting "profits"

So by going to China I was able to create jobs here for Americans and give them Health care, 401k and profits to me.

The quality junk thing, I blame the distributord over here accepting the poor quality. With my product I was able to control all aspects of production and materials till they met my standards....or did the company here design and build junk to put an extra buck in their pocket.

Since then I have developed and currently developing more products with China and my customers appreciate the price and my employees appreciate the work...and yes I appreciate the profits.

 

[Builder]

No Country on the planet can compete with the Chinese. One needs to understand that products are being made by prison labor for like twenty five cents a day for free for a day.

I invented a product and needed a proto type done and spent a year dealing with US Companies and the prices I was getting would floor you. 25K just to do the mold and then they had minimums like several thousand to do a run and that would have cost me over 100K. Well I was this close to dumping my invention when I sent the whole works to China. They not only CAD designed my product made a mold and produce 500 units for 5K.

So what is one to do really, who's fault id it? Is it the workers here in the US for demanding high wages, health care 401K etc. Is it the Government for demanding a safe work place and environmental laws. Is it the business for wanting "profits"

So by going to China I was able to create jobs here for Americans and give them Health care, 401k and profits to me.

The quality junk thing, I blame the distributord over here accepting the poor quality. With my product I was able to control all aspects of production and materials till they met my standards....or did the company here design and build junk to put an extra buck in their pocket.

Since then I have developed and currently developing more products with China and my customers appreciate the price and my employees appreciate the work...and yes I appreciate the profits.

So how do you feel about having your products made by "prison labor for like twenty five cents a day for free for a day?"

Do you think this is ethical? I don't like to judge people, but I would avoid buying products made by folks in leg irons making .25 cents/day.

I don't think my concious or my life are improved by that. I know some things I have to buy that are Chinese I must have, so I guess in some way I have bought from such sweat shops.

Knowing what you just said, I will try now more than ever to not buy Chinese made products.

 

[horse7]

...
And there are no computers made in America either. They're assembled from foreign components.
...

I presume you mean "personal computers" (and the processor is still made in North America or Europe even so, other silicon more likely Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, Korea, with the lowest tier silicon Chinese-- along with most all the other parts being Chinese).

Large and medium system hardware is mostly first world still.

 

[horse7]

No Country on the planet can compete with the Chinese. One needs to understand that products are being made by prison labor for like twenty five cents a day for free for a day.

I invented a product and needed a prototype done and spent a year dealing with US Companies and the prices I was getting would floor you. 25K just to do the mold and then they had minimums like several thousand to do a run and that would have cost me over 100K. Well I was this close to dumping my invention when I sent the whole works to China. They not only CAD designed my product made a mold and produce 500 units for 5K.

So what is one to do really, who's fault id it? Is it the workers here in the US for demanding high wages, health care 401K etc. Is it the Government for demanding a safe work place and environmental laws. Is it the business for wanting "profits"

So by going to China I was able to create jobs here for Americans and give them Health care, 401k and profits to me.

The quality junk thing, I blame the distributord over here accepting the poor quality. With my product I was able to control all aspects of production and materials till they met my standards....or did the company here design and build junk to put an extra buck in their pocket.

Since then I have developed and currently developing more products with China and my customers appreciate the price and my employees appreciate the work...and yes I appreciate the profits.

I've noticed that Chinese companies are more willing than first world companies to "invest" in short production runs like you mention, in the hopes of getting future business. Usually, the Chinese don't have the sophistication of the first world companies, but many products don't need the tightest tolerances or latest tech-- and the Chinese gain experience in fast turns and making short production runs profitable.

Also, first world companies are running very lean on labor. Really, really lean. So lean that incremental gains just can't be handled because there simply isn't any labor to do it (don't ask me how I know) unless the price is so high that some other task get bumped. [as an aside, a sad commentary is that one now is actually compensated better to have a government bureaucrat job (GSA pay raise for 2009: 3.4 to 4.8%, compare THAT to private industry "maybe you will be laid off, and if not, 0% pay raise dude and be happy it isn't a pay cut!") than in private industry-- if you were just out of college and not looking to start your own company, why work for a company constantly threatening outsourcing to India if you could get a Fed job?]

What I have yet to grasp fully is how the Germans can continue to profitably produce products for export while other first world countries seem to be slipping-- particularly America. It seems like every time some company in America gets recognized for a quality product, it is bought out then pretty much the whole company including production is outsourced. Contrast this to German companies where this is much less common, so that the production and design has more continuity. The design/production cycle is 2-4 years, not 1-2 quarters, and losing experienced personnel pretty much guarantees future products are not up to customer expectations.

 

[rtdiggr]

I'm sure Canada is in the same boat as the US.

Canada and the US are closer than people think.

Our credit [or ability to get credit] is quite abit different then the US therefore, People are not losing there houses as much as in the US.

Having said that houses like cars are not moving to quick.

Shane