How many people only buy products made in the USA?

[mojothehelpermonkey]

Sept 30, 2015 15:14:23 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Sept 30, 2015 14:29:07 GMT -5 mojothehelpermonkey said:

My last two jobs have been at companies that sell non-FDA regulated immunoassays that are marketed as "made in America". At the first job, all of the products were actually made in Taiwan, but the quality was generally okay. At my most recent job, most of the products were made in China, and the quality was terrible. After seeing what passes for QC, I won't even buy cat toys that were made in China. I also wouldn't trade places with the Chinese R& scientists even though I am currently unemployed. The ones I worked with made terrible wages and seemed miserable most of the time.

I work in QC here, and the stuff they pull in the China plant are insane.  Documents and procedures are often whipped up after the fact and we know they are sometimes creating data to "prove" corrective actions have been implemented and were successful when they didn't do shit.  Our engineers occasionally have to go over there to whip them into shape and they come back just flustered by the mess.  It doesn't help that the turnover rate is so high in China that nobody ever is there long enough to learn how to do their job properly. 

It's ridiculous. One morning, I came in to find that my main point of contact in China had been replaced by someone entirely different with no explanation. The new guy was awful and there wasn't really anything I could do about it because he was the one translating my complaints about his work to his superiors.

[andi9899]

Sept 30, 2015 10:39:27 GMT -5 phil5185 said:

I buy quality whenever I buy something. Doesn't matter what it is. If that item happens to be made in the US, so be it. If not, that's OK with me too.

I'm not against any particular nation.

But I have one exception - cars. I avoid US cars, I do not like to pay UAW people their outrageous wage for unskilled labor.  The UAW drove much of the car market off-shore, and that has consequences.  Plus, the Japanese cars are better quality and more reliable.

This. I don't buy American cars. I guess I thought the "I buy quality" part of my statement made that a given.

[Deleted]

Are you sure your US- brand car wasn't made in Mexico? The Japanese-brand car I bought was made in the US.

[cronewitch]

I don't much care but will buy something Made in USA given a choice. My ISO is adamant about Made in USA so I point out to him when something is to make him happy. Cheap stuff like t-shirts I like to support the workers in poor countries.

[Deleted]

Oct 1, 2015 0:31:06 GMT -5 cronewitch said:

Cheap stuff like t-shirts I like to support the workers in poor countries.

Yes, but sometimes you're supporting poor, and even dangerous, working conditions. When the Rana Plaza fire raged through a flimsy clothing factory in Bangladesh, killing over 1,200 workers and injuring another 2,500, the clothing brands they found in the fire included Disney.  DISNEY!  There's an example of a company charging premium prices for goods manufactured at the lowest possible cost, without looking too hard to see how that's accomplished.

I haven't bought a T-shirt in ages; this year alone I was given 6.  One was when I acted as Course Marshall for a 5K and the other 5 were from charity bike rides.  I have to cull through my collection again and give some away.