Something I did Not Know
 

"What?" You ask. "There is something you did not know?"

Well, yeah.

What is the difference between "Made in the USA" and "Product of the USA"
Product of the USA is North American raw material shipped to China and other various countries for manufacturing and processing. Then shipped back to the USA under the "Product of USA Label".
"Made in the USA" is an America product manufactured and processed right here in the USA.

Apparently LOTS of stuff on our merchant shelves are "Products of the USA." Much of the USA wild caught salmon is caught, frozen, shipped to China where it is thawed, gutted and carved up. Then it is refrozen and sent back to the US. Many food and wood products originate here and sent overseas for processing and returned, and still called "Products of the USA." Be careful out there.

while many things happen in China..
it's our Gov. & FDA that helps them screw us..
like that shell game you just described..

many items on our shelf s cannot be sold in Europe..
especially if it's GMO..
one.. it may not be sold & if sold...
the label informs the customer...
and unlike most Americans..
Euro's read the labels, prefer healthy foods, and generally avoid GMO products..

our FDA recently approved a GMO salmon...
but doesn't feel the need to have the producer inform you..

Rika

Euro's also tend to shop differently than we do.

Refrigerators are smaller. They shop more often and not in bulk. The meats, dairy, grain, products tend to be fresh, not frozen.

My Oma lived to 90 something and had a fridge a bit bigger than your average American dorm room.

^^
But German's don't drink beverages chilled, or with ice... ;)

That's a pretty damned big fridge! ;)

[QUOTE=stomachmonkey;8888929
My Oma lived to 90 something and had a fridge a bit bigger than your average American dorm room.[/QUOTE]

So, she had a walk-in fridge to keep her fresh till she was 90 something!

John Deere 5083E tractors are manufactured in India and / or Mexico but are assembled in Augusta Georgia handle they are made in the USA. The smaller 5075E is completely made in India.

This is PPOT! No one would ever admit they DIDN'T KNOW something.

Don't be ridiculous.

Even "Made in the USA" is dubious at best. Something can legitimately carry that label, while containing a fair amount of parts/pieces/ingredients that originated overseas. For most things "Made in the USA", it would probably be more accurate to label it "Assembled in the USA" or similar. For US .mil/DOD contracts, the preference for 100% US-made goods is address via the Berry Amendment, but even that has "exemptions" for certain things like screws, fasteners/zippers/etc.

I don't know about the US, but here in New Zealand if a "manufacturer" sews a Chinese made top of a shoe to a Chinese made sole of a shoe, it's called Made in New Zealand :(

Ah...but with highest quality New Zealand thread. All good.

also seen

printed in the USA

as in the box is ours
the junk inside
came from elsewhere

Knew that already - it's also common with furniture. Materials are all sent to China for assembly, then shipped back here for resale.

It's all about labor costs and associated regulations. Why pay some trade union guy $30 or $40 or $50 an hour (factoring in benefits, etc.) and deal with all the regulatory hurdles when you can pay about $3.50 in China and about $10 for the shipping both ways on the same product? It's simple math. The USA dug its own grave manufacturing-wise by convincing people that they deserved $100k a year, a suburban home, 2.2 kids and 3 SUVs for doing grunt labor. Sorry, but the true value of that work is much closer to what it fetches in China than here. The fact that American consumers are dullards who only care about price point (the WalMart phenomenon) - not quality, durability, manufacturing conditions, etc. doesn't help. We enable China's slave labor practices. It's disgusting.

In order to be labeled "Made in USA", "all or virtually all" of it's components must also be made in USA.
Technically, I cannot call my guitar pickups "Made in USA" because the bobbins, magnet, and lower frame are made overseas.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Made_in_USA

yup. When I worked in toothpaste manufacturing we bought the Sodium Fluoride from China. Everything else was US sourced, but we could not label it Made in the USA due to the Chinese source of one ingredient.

Technically, you are correct. I probably should have stated "some" in place of "a fair amount" above. However, it is a known practice to muddy the waters through the supply chain (which is muddied further if you are dealing in raw materials). For instance, if you contact a supplier requesting a part needed to assemble your product, you can state/request that it needs to be of US origin. They can then say "uh...yeah, sure it's made in the US" and you are clear to put that "Made in the USA" label on your finished product, without any further qualification. All because you made a "reasonable" effort to determine the origin of the parts used.

Also, the FTC standard of "virtually all" is vague and often abused. A company can/will make an unqualified claim, when it should be qualified (a qualified claim being where you actually state the fact that foreign content is present - such as "80% US Made" or "Made in the USA with Swiss components", etc.). That, combined with deceptive supply chain and other manufacturing practices, give some the (false) justification they need to slap that "Made in the USA" label on their products, even though it falls way outside of the intended definition/spirit of the law.

The other issue is that there is no approval process. You don't have to substantiate your "Made in the USA" claim (labeling/advertising/etc.) prior to using it. So, there are probably a number of small businesses that are using the label incorrectly due to ignorance of the standard, rather than deceptively. No excuse, but it happens I am sure.

I bought an American Giant sweater and a Flint & Tinder hoodie. I don't feel the difference other than the psychological... On the other hand, I have a 20 year old shirt that is Made in the USA!!!

I guess if it's cheaper to make outside of the US, the more money they make when selling to us suckers...

Sorry Jeff but I grew up in "the furniture capital of the world", watched it's demise as a manufacturing center, and your assessment is simply incorrect. Firstly, unions simply did NOT exist for the most part in local industries....like NONE ;). Workers were paid by "piece work", very fair wages based upon production....avg worker made avg wages....good ones did VERY well, but worked hard for it every minute of the day. And they were skilled ;)....

Unions were voted down EVERY single time around here....but greed still won out in the end by the huge corporate bean counters :eek: