Save made in USA

[suptscottyb]

The reason everything is made in china is simply because it can be made over there and shipped here CHEAPER than we can make it, period.
Americans have not been willing to pay more for made in USA products, so stores stock what sells.

What do you think is a workable solution?

 

[Dave H (MI)]

Ummm....we all take a paycut to keep the cost down on made in USA products?

Now that I have painted a target on my backside I will bend over to make it easier for y'all to hit.
Let me have it....Lord knows I asked for it by responding to this lame inflammatory post!

 

[Stockdale Dave]

I bought the first thing that I can remember in forever made in America this weekend. It was an Arrow T25 staple gun made in New Jersey. I looked at the shipping wrap and wondered if I should save that as a collectors item.

That is my greatest rant...wife hates to take me to the store anymore. I live 120 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. How in the heck can they farm raise shrimp in Vietnam, freeze it and fly it to Texas cheaper than we can produce it locally? I got to talking to some Vietnamese shrimpers in Rockport Tx. When you start with 500 gallon tanks of diesel at marina prices less road use tax you start out over a $1000 in the hole sailing out of port. Insurance, maintenance, licenses, etc. are out of sight. It's a wonder seafood isn't $500 a pound.

Me....I just push a hand seine around the local grass beds and get plenty for personal use.

I fear made in the USA is going to get more scarce in the future. Costs are so high in this nation and I don't know of any way to reverse the trend.

 

[Anonymous-0]

If we can all figure out how to work for fifteen cents an hour, we should be quite competitive.

 

[Dave from MN]

I buy made in the USA as much as possible. My family will not shop at Walmart for this reason. Electronics it seems we have no choice, I dont think anything Electronic is made in America. Supply and demand is always the in and out of everything. I beleive is is time to "demand" a supply of USA made products. If US consumers would give a little more, in $$ and voice, we could increase the demand(meaning the true definition of demand), and as foreign product demand dwindles so should supply, as demand for "Made in USA" products increases so should the supply train, products and jobs. As long as we( yes I said WE) continue to buy everything made anywhere because it is cheap and we can "have it all" for one low price just to say we have it, the light at the end of the tunnel is fading-FAST! Didnt Maytag just shut down a washer plant a couple weks ago? Is the Webster city Electrolux plant next. I took a look at the Northern Tool and Supply ad I got this weekend, WOW all them tools and gadgets , mit, itt, XVSTR, TING TANG WANG, all cheap throw away tools made in every country but hours. This is really a sore spot with me so I am going on, Buy American made when ever possible, increase the demand!!!, complain to store management about the lack of American made products!!Increase your voice. Our children will need jobs, they cant all be medical, business, or stock traders. If your buying a freezer this year, buy one made right here in St. Cloud Minnesota by IAM union profesionals, Electrolux Home Products, Good people, good product, the last freezer plant in the USA. Ahhh, that felt good!

 

[Anonymous-0]

Did you buy your Korea-cat yet?

 

[Anonymous-0]

Ok, so manufacturing jobs are disappearing, but isn't the number of white collar jobs increasing?. You now got a whole computer industry that wasn't there 30yrs ago and its expanding, biggest difference is it takes a college education to get those jobs.

 

[Dave from MN]

Sorry for the misspells I was typing fast. Also, Hourly wages is a big issue for everyone, but alot of the need for constant wage increases, which in effect causes price increases in most cases, is our lifestyle as a nation to have to have soo much, we can not live within our means, so we must constantly fight for an increase in wage, it is a never ending thing as long as we think we need to live the life and have everything.

 

[Dave from MN]

Yes, should be here in 2 weeks, it was built in Good Old North Dakota, Bismarck or Gwinner. Electrolux freezers is owned by out of country'ers, but the units are made in the US, by local people, my purchase of A "bobcat" or a "frigidaire" keeps the light on for them good workers here in the US.
read all about it

 

[Anonymous-0]

A few thoughts on why US products may cost so much. I know the points I am bring up aren't the whole problem, but I feel they are a good part of the reason products can be made cheaper over seas and shipped here and still be cheaper than US made products, and is SOME cases made better.
As I see it in the company I work for these are some of the problems.

Management doesn't respect any of the plant workers, management always knows everything.

None of management has been promoted form the plant, therefore they have no real knowledge of what is going on and how it is done.

They think all there is to a job is knowing where the start and stop buttons on the machine are and that they can hire any burger flipping chimpanzee and make good product.

Management hates maintenance, a necessary evil they have to have and pay less than they are worth.

Management seems to pis off the loyal (what's left of them) folks and allow the screw offs to get away with not working much of the time, and making scrap when they do work.

We had "work teams" as part of a QS 900 qualification, but when the teams started to come up with real worthwhile changes management broke up the work teams. The "work team" meetings are now run by the dept. head and are just a time when he spouts company propaganda. Problems are not solved by "work teams".

To sum it up the company isn't hiring technical minded folks for the long term and although the company is doing well it isn't because of management, it is in spite of it.

How can a company compete when the people are just there to get a paycheck and aren't working together because they are all pis ed at the company?

I work for a company of about 250 in CT that makes wire rope and wire rope assemblies. Most of the people who have been there for any length of time feel as I do, this isn't just me talking here.

Many (most) of the friends I talk to who work for other companies say about the same about those companies. Is this a nation wide problem? I bet it is.

Not helped by the fact that many of the young folks who come to work aren't very good, out a lot, don't care, no mechanical background/experience, etc. However the techical folks are out there if you look, however when they come in and apply mostly they aren't hired, they want too much money?? They would rather hire for less, make lower quality, and scrap, and take longer to do it.

I just hope they keep going good for a few more years until I can retire.

 

[Aaron Ford]

Amen.

Aaron

 

[Dave from MN]

I was a product line manage for a few years and I will fllow up with this

Management doesn't respect any of the plant workers, management always knows everything. -The plant workers are the foundation, the managers must build on this foundation and involve it to make improvements. Very seldom do workers accept change, ussually because changes are abrupt and unexplained. Even the most "worker concerned" manager will be acused of not caring

None of management has been promoted form the plant, therefore they have no real knowledge of what is going on and how it is done. - Big mistake on the company , you promote from within, take that talent and give them the tools(education) to be able to be a manager or leader. Not everyone is a leader.

They think all there is to a job is knowing where the start and stop buttons on the machine are and that they can hire any burger flipping chimpanzee and make good product- Most factory workers are craftsman/skilled operators. I always would try a job myself before I expected some one else to do it. Most the time, the workers would shame me for being so slow. I worked on the line myself before being promoted, you have to remember where you came from!

Management hates maintenance, a necessary evil they have to have and pay less than they are worth. - NO maintenance is the antibiotics, they are there when you need them , they know what to do, stay out of their way and let them do their job. Involve them in your production meeting and process improvement meetings.

Management seems to pis off the loyal (what's left of them) folks and allow the screw offs to get away with not working much of the time, and making scrap when they do work. - Another common problem at everyplant. You need the assembly line time studied and balanced and work loads evened out, your "loyal" need to be involved in a waste reduction team and be involved in any implementation of improvements

We had "work teams" as part of a QS 900 qualification, but when the teams started to come up with real worthwhile changes management broke up the work teams. The "work team" meetings are now run by the dept. head and are just a time when he spouts company propaganda. Problems are not solved by "work teams". - You need to have a talk with the plant manager, you have issues going on that almost every other plant has as well. You wrote almost word for word what my employees, union stewards, stated to me when I became a manager, they were 100% right and really opened my eyes. A successful operation is not a "boss" and some "workers". It is a team. A manager is NO GOOD, if he does not value his people and listen to their ideas and follow up on them. When the line runs smooth, every ones job is better, why wouldnt a manager want that. Do you have a "labor management team"(LMT)

 

[Anonymous-0]

Verniee, 15 cents an hour probably still wouldn't work as they would subsidize the product to sell it a nickel lower than we can. That way they can knock us out of business and then have the whole market. Anyway that is one way that the Japanese did it with the electronics industry many years ago.

 

[buickanddeere]

Who gave China "most favored trading status" which gave them free & full access to the Us & Canadian markets? Who to blame George Bush? Hmmm no.
Why it was president clinton and her husband slick willy. It was the nnalert that took away so many jobs.

 

[Walt Davies]

let me tell you kids just how long I have heard this same OL' Gripe. made japan, Made in Taiwan, made in China.
Well when I was kid right aft the big war WW-II we got some toys that said made in japan. YUP! even way back then. My brother and I would tear them apart to see what kind of Beer cans they made from. All can say is they must have drunk a lot Lucky lager over there. Hey! isn't that an American beer.
Walt

 

[Stockdale Dave]

I think you'll find Carter and his admin gave China most favored status in 1980.

 

[Anonymous-0]

One place that developing countries cannot keep up with us is with jobs the require lots of good education. Some jobs that companies tried to move overseas such as computer programming to India, they are bringing back to the USA because they found hidden costs with more bugs in the programs. Sure those people work cheaper per hour, but they just are not as good and technology is a field where you got to work fast.

 

[Thack]

Take away the 22% payroll tax or add a 22% tax to imported goods and suddenly no county in the world can compete with American production.

Would you support doing away with the payroll tax?

 

[Don Wadge]

I'm not sure when China got "most favoured nation status" but it was many, many years ago. "most favoured nation" status is not duty free, but it is a lower rate. Can't blame Willie for everything. He's actually very popular up here in Canada and does a lot of speaking engagements. I won't coment on George too much, but he's less popular.

 

[Pete in MD]

Walt,
I remember those beer can toys. Especially a hand gun that shot out sparks when you pulled the trigger. They were made in "Occupied Japan."

 

[TGIN]

I`ve got several friends that work in places like Kroger , Ford and GM that brag about the $30 per hr. they make and only work about a hr. or 2 to get it . One guy that plays cards with fellow workers a third of the day while on double and triple time , no company can survive that . Then when they need a hammer they fill the truck up with gas to drive to harbor frieght and get one for $5.00 then back again when the head breaks off the handle . And boy do these guys cry and whine around when a contract comes up . They need a taste of what it`s like to work for a living and earn there money and get paid for what they do . I never did get paid for finishing the papers crossword !! But the bottom line is that if you want your jobs to stay , the money your paid needs to be spent on goods made in the factory next door , they dont sell American Made at Harbor Frieghtor or Northern Tool !!

 

[Tradititonal Farmer]

Americans are in a Global Market like it or not.
And when you have Chrysler union workers that are making total compensation of $81/hr going on strike it doesn't take Rocket Science to figure out that many Americans are being unrealistic about how much their labor is worth.Unskilled blue collar jobs that take very little training to do are going to be at the bottom of the pay scale for good reason.They require little education and no investment on the worker's part other than their ride to work and they are going to be the easiest job to teach the masses in 3rd world countries.The Gravy Train Ride is coming to an end no mater what the politicians promise
financial reality is about to set in.

 

[DJM75]

The way I understand it is if we send finished goods over seas say china they put lots of taxes and tariffs on it so it doesn't sell for us but when they send their goods over here we don't put much on at all. I would like to see enough tariffs and taxes to bring foreign goods to the price of american made goods then lets see what people buy. just an idea after all fair is fair.

 

[Anonymous-0]

"The company that bought West Fargo-based Bobcat Co. intends to keep current management and employees, company executives say"

That's what they always say at the beginning of an acquisition.

The manufacturing will disappear over time. It may assemble some stuff here, but the actual manufacturing will take place in South Korea.

 

[Spook]

I don't know which Electro lux plant you are thinking of, but they just moved thier compressor plant to Mexico, from Greenville Michigan. Michigan lost a couple of thosand jobs in that deal. The state and local governments offered to build Electrolux a brand new plant and GIVE it to them. They refused, the labor savings will pay for the new plant in a year. The Michigan workers made about $15/hr. I don't see them as being overpaid. Nobody can compete with 3rd world labor.

 

[Spook]

Unfortunately, that's alomost what it would take. Many of these 3rd world countries have labor rates under a dollar per hour.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Cheer up! The Government is going to solve every problem! On January 1st, 2008, the minimum wage is going to go up!

Every Union worker in the country will automaticly get a fat, unearned, undeserved raise, everything they make will take a whopping jump in price, and the poor guy working in retailing at $8.00/hr will not get a raise for another year!

Of course, if our illustrious DEMOCRATIC PARTY MEMBER legislators had really wanted to help lower income people, instead of giving EVERYONE a MANDATED RAISE, they had just reduced taxes for low income people, they could have made a real difference in the buying power of such people!

Won't ever happen that way though, no nnalert ever willingly gave up a tax dollar from anyone!

They like to preach about how they want to tax the "rich", but --- look at whom they like to place the most onerous taxes upon!

Cigarette taxes are paid most of all, by poor people who can't afford them!

Gas taxes hit lowest income families the worst. Especially for those who have to own gas guzzling old luxury cars because they can't afford newer economical ones!

 

[kyhayman]

Afraid those good white collar jobs are already being outsources. A friend of mine was hired at a fortune 500 health ins company as a computer analysis (actually not hired but retained as an independent contractor). After two years there, they sent her to India to train an Indian based subcontractor who now does ALL of their client support, tech, and software.

 

[INCase]

Who makes MIN wage? Around here high schooler"s are making $8 at Taco Bell. Our company is actually moveing some jobs to the US as the dollar deflation with the Euro is a huge finacial hit. Low cost countries (China) aren"t always low cost. If something goes wrong you can spend 2-3 years worth of profit in a couple weeks in air frieght.
The American consumer is mostly to blame for this (the governments of these other countries don"t help any either). We want everything now. We borrow too much $ to buy stuff (made in China)NOW. We want our profits NOW so share holders force companys to move/buy overseas. We"re not investing long term anymore we want it all and we want it NOW. People won"t even wait for their turn at the store or at stop signs. They want to go NOW. Think about it. The Wal - marts of the world (Home depot, Lowes, target ect ect) have just helped this all along. IF they buy an American made product they force the company to almost sell it at a negative profit. If its something they want and you won"t meet their demands they will get it made overseas and good luck fighting them if you pattent something as they"ll drag it out longer than you can afford lawyers. Home-depot did that to Werner ladder. Werner wouldn"t "give" them ladders so they copied them in CHina. Consumer beware. Its a big problem and its going to take time to fix IF we want to fix it. My 2-1/2 cents for the day.

 

[Anonymous-0]

You are correct kyhayman. I also have a friend who was sent to India last year to train replacements for her fellow American workers in customer service, tech support etc.

That truly sucks.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Yes, and that 15 Million bonus that ole Chaney got; who paid for it? How many no-bid contracts did his old company get? How many hundreds of millions did they swindle the Government out of? How much has ole Bushie done to seal the border? How much fence has been built? Why did Bushie turn Mexican trucks loose on USA highways? How much has the national debt increased under ole Bushie? nnalert are not better than nnalert. That is why I always vote for the person rather than party. Tom

 

[Anonymous-0]

Well Dave, I wish you were managing where I work, you see it the way I do. There aren't too many lke you in management I guess. Do people in this country become managers because they can't do anything else?

 

[Anonymous-0]

I have a carbon monoxide alarm that needs a 25.00 module replaced.I buy them for 6.00 at a salvage store.Found one for 50 cents last month I took the container apart when the first one needed replacing.Inside was a 9 volt battery worth 2.00 at most.It had a foam pad across the terminals.I would guess there is a chemical in the pad that reacts to CO and causes a sudden voltage drop that sets the alarm off.I was working on a Ford f150 door lock problem.The cable that pull the latch was off.I found that pivot in the latch was rusted so it coulnt turn.I had to take the electric lock motor out of my way.It was held in with a 1/4 pop rivet.None in my jar so its off to the Ford dealer.They wanted 2.97 for the rivet,A new lock cylinder was 49.00 and it came with a blank key.I told them I find the parts elsewhere.I bought two rivets for 50 cents at an auto parts store.A locksmith freed up the jambed lock cylinder for 5.00.I gave a 10.00 bill for doing good work and not ripping me off.I stopped in a body shop body where they gave me a free rivet.Stopped at a small parts shop and bought a few items and got two rivets for 25 cents.A friend had a 94 ranger pick up.He filled the gas tank one day and the back strap let go just rusted a wayHe calls the Ford garage and they say 125.00for the front strap and 150.oo for the rear plus 200.00 in labor to install.I look around on the internet and find both straps for 22.00 plus 10.00 ship.He cant be without his truck so we starting checking auto supplys about 30 miles away.One shop says they will get them next day.42.00.I put them on for him, nasty job stuff in the way.Takes me two days, I have my own stuff to get done.He dosent bug me directly but tells my wife on the phone,Ive got to have my truck.Hes retired lives alone, dosent have any place he has to be at.The day I put the straps on I get sick, real bad but do the job because rain is for cast for the next day.I am outdoors working on ramps.I notice the muffler and tailpipe are shot and tell him I dont have time to work on his truck.He had lot of work done on the truck and got skinned every time.The body looked nice but the under side was rusted away.I told him to get rid of it fast.As long as US companies keep screwing their customers they are wide open to import competion.