The Case for “Made In The USA”
About 8 in 10 American consumers say they would much rather spend their money on an American-made product than an imported one. Are you one of those eight? Perhaps you find yourself thinking, “What does it really matter?”. As a consumer, you have a lot more power than you think.
Job Creation
It’s simple, buying products made in the United States creates jobs in the United States. In fact, if every American committed to purchasing $64 worth of US made product per year, it would create 200,000 US jobs! Think about it, when a factory outsources its jobs, it’s not just the factory workers who lose their job, it’s many people in the surrounding community. It’s the plumbers and electricians who were employed to help maintain the factory, it’s the people supplying parts and materials for the factory. Even the people involved in the research and development of the product lose out. Creating the demand for US made products keeps the manufacturing need and the jobs in the US.
Economy
The manufacturing sector is one of the most, if not the most, important part of our economy. If we as a country, are not able to produce what we need we become highly dependent on other countries to import which in turn, makes us susceptible to a shortage of supplies and/or inflation. When you spend your money on American-made products, that money not only stays in our own economy, American workers also pay taxes on the wages they earn from producing those products. The Economic Policy Institute also estimates that every manufacturing job in the US supports an additional 1.4 jobs in other parts of the economy.
Human Rights
Many countries importing products to the US have very little to no regulations on working conditions. In fact, some of the factories in importing countries are worse than prisons. The people working in these factories are subjected to unsafe and inhumane practices and some of them are filled with children who are subjected to the same conditions. Buying products that are made in America ensures we are supporting fair, safe working conditions and child labor laws.
Environmental
Manufacturers in the United States have strict environmental regulations they have to abide by. Most of the top countries in manufacturing don’t have these regulations so in the process of creating products they may use heavily polluting processes and dangerous chemicals. Even when importing products into the U.S., they inadvertently cause massive pollution and abuse to the environment. When you spend your money on products made in the US, you’re helping to support a cleaner planet for you and future generations.
With all this being said, if you are someone who is or plans to buy more American-made products, you’ll want to make sure you’re not being mislead by product labeling. Some products may show the US flag or even have “American” in the name but it does not mean they’re made here. For example, DLX Mattress is proud to design and manufacture all of our products right here in the United States.
