Are goods manufactured in American, American Manufactured goods [W: 41]

[Sparkles]

I was recently told that if parts used in making a product are not from America, then it isn't an American manufactured good.

Do you agree with this?

I know my answer. I'm curious what the overall opinion might be.

For clarification:
When I mean manufactured in America, I mean manufactured in America. Is it, or is it not, an American Manufactured good?

Defining what "American Made" means is subjective at best. Undefinable at worst.

As it relates to the topic at hand, some individuals say it is not manufactured in America, because the parts used are not made in America.

But every single product built in the US, has foreign made parts. So effectively nothing is made in the US. If that's your belief, please vote that way.

If you believe there must be some arbitrary percentage of US made parts, then vote that.

If you simply believe that an American manufactured good, only requires that American workers, in an American plant, make an product in America, regardless of where the parts came from, then vote that way.

 

[RadicalModerate]

It depends on what you mean by "Made in America". If you mean each individual part that goes into a larger product, including the raw materials, then no, almost no product is completely "Made in America".

Usually, it means somewhere between the middle and end of the manufacturing and assembly of the final product. For example, my Subaru is a Japanese car; technically, the owning company of Subaru, Fuji Heavy Industries in Tokyo Japan, is the sole owner of that specific car, they have patents to it. It was designed and tooled by the Japanese. However, some nations have national branches of Subaru. The US, for instance, has a manufacturing plant in Georgia of Subaru cars for the American market. The individual pieces (suspension, engine block, brakes, transmission) are partially manufactured in a Japanese Subaru plant, then they are shipped into the US to be finished and put together to make the hatchback I own now. I bought it from a local, independent dealer of Subarus.

Is my car "American Made"? It was put together here in America from Japanese designs and parts. It's hard to say. That's globalization. It's also why we can afford the products we wonder about.

 

[Sparkles]

It depends on what you mean by "Made in America". If you mean each individual part that goes into a larger product, including the raw materials, then no, almost no product is completely "Made in America".

Usually, it means somewhere between the middle and end of the manufacturing and assembly of the final product. For example, my Subaru is a Japanese car; technically, the owning company of Subaru, Fuji Heavy Industries in Tokyo Japan, is the sole owner of that specific car, they have patents to it. It was designed and tooled by the Japanese. However, some nations have national branches of Subaru. The US, for instance, has a manufacturing plant in Georgia of Subaru cars for the American market. The individual pieces (suspension, engine block, brakes, transmission) are partially manufactured in a Japanese Subaru plant, then they are shipped into the US to be finished and put together to make the hatchback I own now. I bought it from a local, independent dealer of Subarus.

Is my car "American Made"? It was put together here in America from Japanese designs and parts. It's hard to say. That's globalization. It's also why we can afford the products we wonder about.

Did my edit clear up what I meant?

 

[radcen]

Made in America, or assembled in America?

My rough determination is that something has to be 50%+ to be categorized as "made in America". Whether that 50%+ is value of the parts, number of parts, or something else, it's a moving target.

 

[RadicalModerate]

Did my edit clear up what I meant?

Well, it doesn't change my response.

When I mean manufactured in America, I mean manufactured in America. Is it, or is it not, an American Manufactured good?

My car was manufactured here in America from Japanese made parts. Manufactured is an ambiguous word; there are many, many steps in the manufacturing of any products, especially the more complex products. Wood benches some guy in Georgia made from trees in his backyard is a 100% made in America product, but those products don't usually make up a large percentage of the economy. Wind turbines being installed by Xcel Energy in Michigan are not 100% made in America, but that doesn't mean we aren't getting benefit from them.

Defining what "American Made" means is subjective at best. Undefinable at worst.

Agreed, "made" doesn't really tell us anything. Even an "American Made" hammer could have Russian made heads and handles; one American guy just screws them together for it to deserve a "Made in America" sticker.

As it relates to the topic at hand, some individuals say it is not manufactured in America, because the parts used are not made in America.

But every single product built in the US, has foreign made parts. So effectively nothing is made in the US. If that's your belief, please vote that way.

No, America produces plenty in technology, medicine, financial investments, global services, communications and countless other products. We lost lots of manufacturing jobs as we gained lots technology and other associated jobs. It's all a wash in the big picture. And really, America still manufactures a lot of physical products. Not all the loss of manufacturing jobs have been through free trade agreements; technology and robotics have replaced a good chunk of the physical work of manufacturing since the 40's and 50's.

If you believe there must be some arbitrary percentage of US made parts, then vote that.

It's be nice, but it's almost a waste of time to try to trace the origin of reach product. My view of helping the American economy is to buy products from local vendors. All stores sell the same Thai made shirts or German made coffee maker. But if you want to stimulate ground up commercial demand, buying these global products from a local retailer rather than an international company keeps more money within a smaller, more local economy, where relatively small amounts of money can have larger effects.

If you simply believe that an American manufactured good, only requires that American workers, in an American plant, make an product in America, regardless of where the parts came from, then vote that way.

Good luck with that.

 

[Matt Foley]

How about have a tag on the item that says, "44.2% American value added," or something like that.

 

[jamesrage]

I was recently told that if parts used in making a product are not from America, then it isn't an American manufactured good.

Do you agree with this?

I know my answer. I'm curious what the overall opinion might be.

For clarification:
When I mean manufactured in America, I mean manufactured in America. Is it, or is it not, an American Manufactured good?

Defining what "American Made" means is subjective at best. Undefinable at worst.

As it relates to the topic at hand, some individuals say it is not manufactured in America, because the parts used are not made in America.

But every single product built in the US, has foreign made parts. So effectively nothing is made in the US. If that's your belief, please vote that way.

If you believe there must be some arbitrary percentage of US made parts, then vote that.

If you simply believe that an American manufactured good, only requires that American workers, in an American plant, make an product in America, regardless of where the parts came from, then vote that way.

The only time something should be considered American Made is if all the finished parts are made in American put together by American workers. Personally I would like to see a percentage to indicate how much of the product is actually made in America.Its deceptive advertising to say that something is made in American if only 50% of it was actually made in America or if it was only assembled here with all the parts made somewhere.Its like saying something is a 100% orange juice on a carton or bottle if its from concentrate or something says 100% alcohol in big letters and little tiny letters that say "in 94% water" on a bottle of beer.

 

[OhIsee.Then]

I've actually worked on moving portions of computer products to Taiwan and border maquiladoras. I think it's become near impossible even for a US manufacturer to know what percentage of his product is made here. An example is philips screws with integral conical washers I specified. Originally the washers were coined, a bur removed, so they didn't cut the plating on the part they were fastening. About a year later I discovered that the coining process was omitted w/o notice to the vendor that stocked our bins on the line, w/o notice to the bulk supplier to our local vendor, etc. And no way to find out though many questions asked. I suspect that the screws manufacturing was moved from the US to China or India. No way to find out and now no source of a quality screw.

 

[OhIsee.Then]

The only time something should be considered American Made is if all the finished parts are made in American put together by American workers. ... or something says 100% alcohol in big letters and little tiny letters that say "in 94% water" on a bottle of beer.

In the US beer is not allowed to be 6% by regulation. So you've been screwed like me. (see above)

 

[Sparkles]

In 2008, I worked for a company that produced a product for commercial vehicles. The exact purpose isn't important, but it was sold in the US for fire trucks, ambulances, commercial buses. It was also sold world wide, in Egypt, China, India, and a few European countries.

The product itself was built from the ground up. We started with bare circuit boards, and built it into a complete product.

(generic bare circuit board)

We placed the resisters, the capacitors, the diodes, coils and so on, into the board by hand. We soldered them. We clipped and trimmed the backs. We washed and sprayed them. Everything placed on that bare board, was put there by us, by hand.

There were actually 3 boards built this way, all by hand. The 3 boards were then sent to the assembly line, where they are bolted, screwed, or riveted into place. The case was then assembled around the boards, into a complete unit. The power connectors installed, switches connected, and the case lastly screwed together.

Now out of all the parts in the entire product, the only thing I can say for certain that was built in the US, was two large relays, the case, and the boards. However the boards were made from imported silicon wafers, and the case I'm fairly sure was stamped from imported metal sheets. The relays are unknown because they are too expensive to break apart, and that would be the only way to find out where the insides came from, but they were at least assembled in the US.

Nothing else that went into these products was made in the US, as far as I could tell.

In short, only about 10%, if that much, were parts made here in the US. And in all likelihood, I wager it was much much lower. Perhaps about 2% to 4%.

Nevertheless, each shipment of these, represented about 3 days worth of work by roughly a dozen individual laborers, for a total of about 150 labor hours.

To take a mess of parts in bins like these

And change it into a finished product like this

Neither picture is from my company. But when we were building these units, all the parts would be in a huge shelf of bins, like the first picture. But when it was done, it would be an a large black case, with a connector hanging out one side, a bit like that battery tester there.

So back to the question at hand......

Is this American Manufacturing? Or does all that hard work, and hours of labor putting a product together not matter at all, because only 10% of the individual parts, were made here in America?

 

[specklebang]

A Toyota Camry is an American product. A Chevy Aveo is not. To me, assembly is the criteria.

 

[Thunder]

great question.

complicated answer.

 

[jamesrage]

In the US beer is not allowed to be 6% by regulation. So you've been screwed like me. (see above)

Grocery store beer or liquor store beer?


America’s Most Alcoholic Beers
America

 

[obvious Child]

Hahahahaah.

This thread is totally not going the way Sparkles intended.

 

[RadicalModerate]

In the US beer is not allowed to be 6% by regulation. So you've been screwed like me. (see above)

That's funny, because I drank a Dogfish Head beer that was 19% ABV.

 

[RadicalModerate]

Hahahahaah.

This thread is totally not going the way Sparkles intended.

Methinks the OP expects are certain point to be made obvious through er carefully worded question.

It has not.

 

[jamesrage]

That's funny, because I drank a Dogfish Head beer that was 19% ABV.

He must have not never bought beer outside a grocery store.

 

[obvious Child]

I was recently told that if parts used in making a product are not from America, then it isn't an American manufactured good.

Who told you that?

If you say I did, you're lying.

What I said is a majority of the parts in final assembly must be made in America to qualify as Made in America. Importing 100% of the parts and screwing it together is not Made in America.

Try look up the word "majority" before responding.

 

[obvious Child]

Methinks the OP expects are certain point to be made obvious through er carefully worded question.

It has not.

Methinks Sparkle need to learn what "majority" means.

 

[RadicalModerate]

He must have not never bought beer outside a grocery store.

So wait, he did or didn't buy a beer, wait, outside? Huh?

 

[Sparkles]

Hahahahaah.

This thread is totally not going the way Sparkles intended.

Hmmm? Actually I had no intentions whatsoever. I was curious to see what people's answers were.
That's why I asked the question.

If anything, my expectation was to find out that everyone agreed with you. I am somewhat of a pessimist in regards to my view of average Americans. I'm usually shocked when someone agrees with me on anything.

However, as of this post, the voting is 3 to 2 in favor of my general view that American workers, in an American plant, building a product in America, is logically a manufactured product in America.... and I have yet to vote. I already know my answer. I'm just letting others answer.

So I find your post rather ironic given I've been surprised by how reasonable people are.

 

[Sparkles]

Methinks the OP expects are certain point to be made obvious through er carefully worded question.

It has not.

I tried to make the question as clear as possible. Obviously I'm not going to sweat over it if some still can't grasp a simple question.

 

[johnny_rebson]

If it was made in America, it was made by overpaid factory workers.

 

[RadicalModerate]

I tried to make the question as clear as possible. Obviously I'm not going to sweat over it if some still can't grasp a simple question.

Pretty sure I'm at least on the same level as you, Sparkles.

 

[Sparkles]

If it was made in America, it was made by overpaid factory workers.

That's debatable. Some factory workers are over paid compared to the market wages for the work being done.

Some on the other hand or not. They are paid pretty much what the work is worth paying.

It depends. I can only think of one time where I was paid far less than what the work was worth. And I left.

All the other jobs I've had, generally have paid me just about what I was worth. Only one paid me more, and that's because they wanted to promote me to management. I wasn't interested though.