What's new
What's new

Somewhat OT: What Does "Made In The USA" Mean To You

projectnut

Stainless
Joined
Mar 4, 2006
Location
Wisconsin
Last week I started a thread about lathe test bars.

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/general/what-style-lathe-test-bar-338332/

After some consideration I decided to buy a center mounted style to see if I could reduce the time to realign the tailstock after cutting tapers. I found several offerings and decided on one advertised as "Made In The USA", with a US flag proudly waving over the text. It wasn't that expensive, but it did cost nearly 50% more than those advertised as "Made In India" or Made In China".

I received the bar yesterday and decided to give it a try. The first thing I noticed when opening the package was the label reading: "Designed and Engineered in the USA" ----- "Manufactured in China". To me this tool was not made in America. I'm not sure if it's the manufacturer or the retailer is deliberately misleading the consumer by false advertising, and charging a premium price for an item clearly NOT MADE IN THE USA. Several retailers use the identical advertising, but there is no mention of where the tools are made on the manufacturers site.

The same retailers advertise several dozen other tools by the same manufacturer with the same Made in The USA banner. With this experience I highly doubt any of the tools are now or were ever manufactured in the USA.

As a side note the tool seems to be well made and does perform the job it's intended for, so quality is not a factor. It's the advertising I have a problem with. I doubt they would be able to charge the premium price if it was advertised as "Made In China".
 
I've always assumed its a marketing slogan, subject to loopholes like the one you described.

I think the same when I see food labeled "Natural" too. Sounds good, doesn't really mean much. Heck, ground-up dead puppies are "All Natural."
 
That's why I don't waist my money when I can buy straight from the Chinese for 1/3 the price. Of course I only cut metal part time.

Even some US tooling companies source their forgings from asia and grind them here.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk
 
IMO this is the same kind of government allowed crap as "Virgin Olive Oil", which can contain a significant percentage of other oils.

It's deception, plain and simple. At one time Made in USA actually meant made here. It's not the same as Assembled in USA or Designed in USA.

Due to the cozy corporate/government relationship this has been allowed to go on for decades while the people charged with regulating such things persecute small producers of healthy food, supplements, etc. for minor labeling issues.

Hopefully, dealing with this sort of deception will eventually be addressed as part of "Make America Great Again". While certainly people are free to buy products from anywhere that are legally imported into the U.S. they also have a right to know the origin of what they buy.


It's not a matter of "official policy" or what's on the books that matters. It's a matter of enforcing the rules, which has been quite lax in recent years. The official FTC policy sounds quite serious, and yet ... look at post # 1.

'According to the Federal Trade Commission, “Made in USA” means that “all or virtually all” the product has been made in America. That is, all significant parts, processing and labor that go into the product must be of U.S. origin.'

Made in USA | Federal Trade Commission

I would advise all who are concerned about this issue to notify the FTC of abuses. Include all the details and take photos of the packaging and any Made in China product markings that contradict Made in USA claims.

Complying with the Made in USA Standard | Federal Trade Commission
 
Hopefully, dealing with this sort of deception will eventually be addressed as part of "Make America Great Again". While certainly people are free to buy products from anywhere that are legally imported into the U.S. they also have a right to know the origin of what they buy.

Dream on....I buy tickets to see that happen, along with having the Trump clan manufacture their shit here. Maybe that will happen when they get their orange jump suits with numbers on the pocket.


dee
;-D
 
Yes, this causes me problems. We state our products are "Made in the USA". This is literally correct as far as the labor and most components in the product are concerned but the problem is that some parts used in the product, and supplied by old established US companies, are sourced from overseas. We could solve this if we had a choice but we don't. At the level of the components we use, such as small air control valves, there is apparently no manufacturer in the US making an equivalent product. And don't get me started about where the steel comes from.
 
The other day, I bought a pair of Harley Davidson boots, what a surprise when I saw the label saying Made in China.

What could be more American than Harley Davidson.

Wanted to buy a Motorcycle jacket at $600.00, you can buy the same one for $125.00 from China.

Jeff
 
Yes, this causes me problems. We state our products are "Made in the USA". This is literally correct as far as the labor and most components in the product are concerned but the problem is that some parts used in the product, and supplied by old established US companies, are sourced from overseas. We could solve this if we had a choice but we don't. At the level of the components we use, such as small air control valves, there is apparently no manufacturer in the US making an equivalent product. And don't get me started about where the steel comes from.

This is very valid and true, Im interested to see the responses. We can say "Made in the USA" all we want, where did you get your hardware from? Or tubing, or plexi, or gaskets, or assembly tools? I mean maybe the FTC needs to tighten the regulation? IDK. Is built in China-assembled in US="Made in the USA"? Is injection mold designed in the USA but pooped out in China, brought back to USA assembled and certified by QC the same?

BTW everyone throw your cell phone away 'cause guess what!! Or any electronics for that matter.

I still put the responsibility on American consumers and local manufacturers compromising the quality of the work THEY send out. If it's too big a pain in the ass to dispute with QC in China----don't send it over there. I know a guy in a job shop down the road that will take any job, bigger than 3"x3" or 3" round and will do it cheap.

I am in the camp of buying where I live, even though some local manufacturers are compromising their quality to compete with Asian product, (shame ohhh the shame, my Granddaddy would be none too happy about that).
 
Been that way fir decades now.

One I looked up once....relating to import duty....

Import duty on components for a "power supply", transformers, for instance, was several times HIGHER than the duty on importing the entire thing as a unit, made overseas. THAT never made sense except to folks who wanted to fire all the US workers and buy stuff overseas to sell here. And I have no idea who was going to buy the stuff if everyone here was out of work.

Nothing will be done about THAT...... Count on a few high profile enforcement actions on minor players, but business as usual for the large corporations.. Billionaires stick together.
 
The other day, I bought a pair of Harley Davidson boots, what a surprise when I saw the label saying Made in China.

What could be more American than Harley Davidson.

Wanted to buy a Motorcycle jacket at $600.00, you can buy the same one for $125.00 from China.

Jeff


HAHAHHAHAHAAHAH Sorry Harley hasn't been 100% built here since the late 1960's--100%. About 80-90% of the Motorcycle is 'Merkin made, I would guess that less than 5% of the clothing and stickers shit like that is. Write a letter to John Olin CFO of Harley, he's all about international business.

R
 
...Write a letter to John Olin CFO of Harley, he's all about international business.

R
Funny thing is, most Harley riders would be happy to pay more for US made accessories and riding gear.

Just don't sell me a jacket I have to go home and sew the buttons on.
 
I used to like American casual clothes " Gant ", " Ralph Lauren ", Calvin Klein " etc. I don't buy them now because when you look at the labels they're all made in the 3rd World yet they still have USA level prices.

What " Made In America " meant to me regarding hand tools was innovative design, good lightweight materials, quality manufacture. Even though I'm a Brit I'd go out of my way to buy American tools then because they were worth it. That's not the case anymore.

Regards Tyrone
 
"Hopefully, dealing with this sort of deception will eventually be addressed as part of "Make America Great Again"."

Dream on. Like the Trump caps with that logo on them - Made in China. Like the steel in his buildings - Made in China.

Treason
Trump
Traitor
 
Funny thing is, most Harley riders would be happy to pay more for US made accessories and riding gear.

Just don't sell me a jacket I have to go home and sew the buttons on.

Some years back when I needed a good bike jacket I went to US Made Leather Company in Middleton, MA. The cost wasn't cheap, but it wasn't outrageously expensive either and I got to pick what options I wanted including a jacket that fits me through the shoulders without being too large at the waist.

That was some years back, and a quick google search now shows a company with the same name in Danvers, MA. I don't know if they still make them there or have them made offshore but in my experience buying Made in USA usually means bypassing large retailers (Including Harley Davidson for clothing) and dealing with small manufacturer/retailers.
 
"Hopefully, dealing with this sort of deception will eventually be addressed as part of "Make America Great Again"."

Dream on. Like the Trump caps with that logo on them - Made in China. Like the steel in his buildings - Made in China.

Treason
Trump
Traitor

Since you and the other "negative Nellies" all voted for madam Business as Usual I'll take your comments as typical sour grapes from the losing side.

PS: You'd think people who feel they are so smart could learn to use the quote function. It often seems that we "toothless, ignorant, uneducated 'deplorables' " handle technology better than those who label us as such.
 
what is the point here? general patriotism ? just hatred of chinese products in general ? a specific personal business
venture lost because of foreign competition ? military nationalism ? or just plain fatigue from buying cheap junk?...

is it just the crude tooling available from china and india that pisses you off....watered down tool steels?
what about a general distaste for anything asian? is made in japan, korea, taiwan o.k. .... they make very good tools...

how about germany , poland, spain , and whatever czechoslovakia is called now ?

how about "Kent USA" , "Knuth USA"...obviously imported , but somehow implying they are domestically made.....

i recently bought two toilets marked "made in australia" is buying an aussie toilet better for the us economy than
purchasing a chinese-made one

my haas mill has german ballscrews and a mitsubishi drive ...
my toyota truck was assembled in kentucky from US and japanese parts ....is it made in usa?

hmmmmmmm.
 
The thing I hate is,

If they sell the same Harley Jacket at a price, let's say, $250.00, this is 100% profit, but at $600.00, this is 500% profit.

But in real, they (Harley) probably paid $50.00 for the jacket so we are now at 1000% profit.

Sorry, but I wont pay for that.

Jeff
 
I used to like American casual clothes " Gant ", " Ralph Lauren ", Calvin Klein " etc. I don't buy them now because when you look at the labels they're all made in the 3rd World yet they still have USA level prices.

What " Made In America " meant to me regarding hand tools was innovative design, good lightweight materials, quality manufacture. Even though I'm a Brit I'd go out of my way to buy American tools then because they were worth it. That's not the case anymore.

Regards Tyrone

Irony with that is many times I went out of my way to buy British tools such as Record planes, Record bench vise, Marples carving tools. On a trip to the UK back in the 70s I even brought home a set of Stanley brand Sheffield steel chisels which I still have and reserve only for fussy work.



what is the point here? general patriotism ? just hatred of chinese products in general ? a specific personal business
venture lost because of foreign competition ? military nationalism ? or just plain fatigue from buying cheap junk?...


I think it's more the realization that nearly EVERYTHING now comes from China. Even at the height of the Japanese imports trend we still had plenty of products made in the USA or from various European countries so there was a great deal of choice. Try and find something like a small fan or a drip filter coffeemaker* that is not made in China. There was a documentary on about a year or so ago called Christmas Without China. A young Chinese-born film maker challenged his neighbors to try doing just that. They found it nearly impossible.

* Even the Braun coffee maker we bought and returned was made in China.
 








 
Back
Top