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Made in America Christmas

As the holiday season rapidly approaches, it is time to start thinking about gifts.    I, like many of my friends and relatives, will be limiting my holiday spend to less than last years’ level.   This is in line with many surveys that indicate consumers in general will be spending less this year.  If true, this holiday season will probably not bring much joy to a majority of retailers and out of work manufacturers.  The lower level of spend is why it is even more important to try to buy “Made in the USA” products.  Therefore, I ask people to do a “Made in America Christmas”.

I know it is unrealistic to ask people to go 100% “Made in America”, but it does not hurt to try.  I realize some families will want that iTouch, PS3, or some item that can only be imported.  I have a suggestion for those families; put off that purchase and switch to one of the many items that have domestic alternatives.   Whether you are buying socks, handbags, ties, jeans, a coffee maker, or a vacuum cleaner there are “Made in America” choices.  Even in electronics you can often find a domestic alternative.  If you have to have a product that is foreign made, then see if it is assembled here and/or the company does its R&D here.    Using the iPod, as discussed in my post “The Innovation Myth”, it is better that some of the money, more than just to the retailer and importer, stay in the United States then leave our economy.

Putting off that foreign purchase and focusing on domestic items helps our economy now, when we need it most.  When the economy gets better, then make that foreign purchase.  That way you help our economy now and also give holiday joy, to people you will never know, by creating a job for another American.  Also, please talk to your friends, neighbors and co-workers to do the same.   It is especially critical now because America, and most of the world, is purchasing less.  Each domestic purchase matters.

What Does “Made in the U.S.” mean?

I 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.

Tale of Two Stimuli

When the major economies of the world went into a deep recession many countries responded with stimulus packages.  The stimulus packages all had a similar goal; improve the domestic economy and, by extension, improve the global economy.  Unfortunately, different countries have different domestic drivers that resulted in differing methods used to stimulate their economies.  In several cases, the result of the stimulus will actually hurt the long term economies of the world.

Two specific cases are the burdensome national debt in the U.S. and the steel bubble in China.  While the U.S. stimulus is probably why we are seeing some life in the economy, many components of the stimulus did not provide the best bang for the buck.  In China, while some of the stimulus was used to increase domestic consumption, a significant portion of the stimulus was used to keep manufacturing humming even though there was little demand.

In the U.S. stimulus, money went to many initiatives that had little impact on the rest of the economy.  For example, the $2 million earmarked for swine odor research in Iowa.  As a stimulus, this project was an ineffective use of money and should have either been used in a better way or just not spent.  On the other hand, money spent on improving the country’s infrastructure has great value.  Local jobs are produced that require a resource such as steel and cement which creates other jobs.  Add to this the economic value of a better infrastructure and you get the most out of every dollar.  Admitted, the percentage of money that went to projects similar to the swine odor research was small, but that is not the point.  The point is that the benefit of the marginal projects did not justify the potential future damage.

China is estimated to have loss over 20 million jobs due to the global recession. Since they could not afford additional job losses, stimulus money went into keeping steel, and other, plants operating and people working.  The end result is that China is now producing more steel then ever and they have nowhere to sell it.  Steel industry analysts do not expect world demand to reach 2007 levels until 2012.  What China is doing is maintaining excess capacity and compounding the problem by producing an excessive stockpile, which only exacerbates the excess capacity problem.

In the end, the U.S. and China will have to deal with their own problems due to their stimulus packages.  What it means to the global economy ten years from now is anyone guess.

Bloggers Wanted

I am looking to start adding more bloggers to this site. If you are interested in blogging about U.S. manufacturing, please send me an email at Michael@ProudlyMadeInAmerica.com so we can discuss bringing you on-board. Direct U.S. manufacturing expertise is preferred, but not required.
In general, I am looking for differing opinions about manufacturing. I have gotten some private comments and emails that I am overly optimistic about U.S. manufacturing. My intent is to have this site as an open environment to discuss all viewpoints. Hopefully getting different views will stimulate discussion.

Teetotallers

I was watching the news last night when a story about “Teabaggers” came on.   As much as I agree with many of their issues, such as big government and the federal budget deficit, I was shocked at some of the statements being made.   Too many racist statements were being made, and sometimes shouted, openly in the demonstration.   Then on CNN, “Tea Party” leader Mark Williams calls the President “an Indonesian Muslim turned welfare thug and a racist in chief.” 

Whenever somebody argues against something using racist comments it always makes me wonder whether they are against the issue or the person/people. This makes me wonder how many “Teabaggers” are there for the issues and how many are there to protest again the President.

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that some people and organizations are either turning a blind eye to or, even worse, encouraging the racist component of the “Teabaggers”.  In a Pew Research Center for the People & the Press report, http://people-press.org/report/543/, a recent poll indicated that only about a quarter (26%) now say that news organizations are careful that their reporting is not politically biased, compared with 60% who say news organizations are politically biased. 

Even if the overall percentage of racist protesters is small, it has a broad, and often detrimental, effect on public opinion, politics, and our economy.  When a commentator on a cable news channel says that 1.7 million people (really only about 65,000) “Teabaggers” protested, some people will be swayed to go along with the crowd.   Politicians, whose job is to pander to their bases, will get a distorted view of what the populous wants.  The two political sides will get more polarized in their views, and the chances for the two sides working together to produce real change diminishes.  This hurts our economy in the long run since it reduces the effectiveness of an already slow moving process. 

Take healthcare reform.  Everyone, from a majority of individuals to most business groups, agree something should be done, but no real collaboration is being done.  In the end, something that is critical to our economy, and specifically our manufacturers, will either be left alone or changed in a trivial way.  More manufacturing, and other, jobs will leave our shores never to come back.  It should not be so hard to find a solution to a problem that everyone agrees exists.