Proudly Made In America
Manufacturing in America should be important to everyone. Please use this site to help you make informed decisions on what to buy.
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What Does “Made in the U.S.” mean?
Posted on November 5th, 2009 10 commentsI am starting a new feature called “Company Spotlight”. This feature will bring attention to companies that either manufacture in the USA, or work to bring attention to the importance of American manufacturing. The first company I am spotlighting is Made In USA Certified Inc. of Delray Beach Florida.
As the name implies, Made In USA Certified Inc. certifies that the content of products that are labeled as “Made in the U.S.” are truly “Made in the U.S.”. As the company’s website points out, it is legal for a company to label a product “Made in America” even when components are from other countries, this is because they can include Mexico and Canada in their calculation of domestic production. Some Central American countries can also be counted.
Made In USA Certified Inc. also certifies other aspects of the business. Some companies have their R&D in another country and/or outsource parts of their operations. Where the majority of the “office” work is done does not affect whether a product can use the “Made in the U.S.A.” label. This means that “Made in the U.S.A.” on a box does not always mean the same thing.
Julie Reiser, the President and Founder of Made In USA Certified Inc., is working to address this lack of a true standard with the “Made in U.S.” tag manufacturers put on their boxes. Her company requires that a product “must be certified as having all or virtually all of their core components manufactured in the U.S.” In addition, there is an added requirement that a products assembly be exclusively be done in the U.S.
Every week there are articles about product recalls due to inferior safety standards and controls in other countries. These types of problems are less likely to happen with domestically. From baby formula to dog food, other countries do not have the standards, and oversight, that we do. That is why Made In USA Certified Inc. is even more stringent when it comes to consumables. If something is to be ingested, whether by a human or an animal, Made In USA Certified requires that the core components are 100% U.S.A. made. Being certified as virtually 100% U.S.A. made provides that additional level of comfort knowing that your products are truly safe.
Currently, the Made In USA Certified Inc. label can be found on packaging and websites of many companies. There are two companies I want to identify. The first is Tough Traveler. They design and manufacturer baby carriers, luggage, backpacks and more. The other company is Franklin Clocks. Franklin Clocks offers a complete range of Clocks and Time Systems for Commercial, Educational, Government, Health Care and Industrial applications.
Most of my readers are already aware that manufacturing jobs are critical for our nation’s economy. Having products certified to be fully “Made in the U.S.” ensures that more jobs are created domestically and that our economy benefits the most. An added bonus is safety.
Companies like Made In USA Certified help raise the awareness of the importance of U.S. manufacturing, something we should all be working towards. So now, if I have a choice between a “Made in the USA” product and a “Made In USA Certified” product I can make a more informed decision. That way I can be sure that my purchase does the most possible good for our economy.
10 responses to “What Does “Made in the U.S.” mean?”
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Thanks, I thought that Made in the US meant that %70 of the item was domestic. Guess it can mean alot of things.
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There is also a site, http://www.madeintheusabrand.com which provides a similar service. Check out their presentation at http://www.madeintheusabrand.com/2009/11/red-white-and-blue-will-be-the-next-green/ since is shows that most Americans would spend more for something that is “Made in the USA”.
There is hope, keep it up.
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I think your blog is great. I just added it to my Google News Reader. Found it on Bing though. I love the
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wow, nice post, I was wondering the same thing. and found your site by yahoo, many userful stuff here, now i’m a bit clear. bookmarked and also signed up your rss. keep us updated.
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Excellent. Thanks so much for the post. -Kate
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Why are they trying to rush this health care bill through. I don’t think anyone thinks that health care does not need to be reformed. They just need to do this the right way. Get the party politics out of it and do the right thing for the people. It doesn’t have to be this way.
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Very usefull advice , thx
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I like your post.
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Very interesting entry, thanks for the information. I hope more of these on the blog.
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i think it means being a citizen of usa.
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