"Made in the USA." It's more than a motto. For decades it stood for a certain level of quality, an expectation of the types of workers that assembled it, and that the money we spend on buying it stays here in America. All this month, our Fact Finders are going to be taking an in-depth look at buying American. We wondered just how hard is it to pick products that are actually American made. We are going to find out over the next four weeks.
Buying American is a concept that's been around for about as long as things have been made in America. But if you ask those who make their living selling products, they'll tell you even with the tight economy, its trend that's starting to see a rebirth.
Steve Michael says customers walk through the doors at Max's Service in Traverse City all the time with a certain criteria when it comes to what they want to buy. As he puts it, "I think people are actually more interested in it these days, they say, "Yes I would like to buy American products."
That used to be pretty easy. Decades ago, the company names you knew, the real bedrocks of their industries, probably made their products here, using American workers and American parts. Turns out, it’s not so easy these days to pick a name you know, and know where it’s being made.Take Whirlpool washing machines; an American company right? Made here in America right? The answer is not clear cut. While Whirlpool is an American based company, and most of their traditional products are made in places like Ohio, Tennessee and Oklahoma, if you buy a front loading machine, it’s coming from Germany or Mexico. Michael says if buying American is a priority, customers have to look beyond the name of the product. He says "you kind of have to know a little bit of history, know where it’s coming from that's for sure. But you can ask your salesperson, he should be able to have some basic information, but sometimes the manufacturers don't really want to be super up front with it, because they want you to buy their product no matter where it comes from."
So you have to do your homework and count on people who know their stuff like Steve Michael. But that's not always an option in every setting. Sometimes you need make a quick decision. Often, as customers we might look for the good old "Made in America" label. But believe it or not, that is not a slam dunk when it comes to completely made in America. So what does it mean when you see it on a box?
According to the Federal Trade Commission, in order for something to use the actual phrase "made in America", "all or virtually all" of the parts used have to be American, and it has to be assembled here. Even with a "made in America" label, some parts can be imported, but those parts have to be relatively insignificant in cost or function. For example lets say the knobs on an oven are made in Mexico, but the rest is manufactured and assembled in Kentucky, it qualifies as "made in America" The percentage of imported parts can very dramatically though, and you actually need to dig a little deeper even with a "made in America" product if buying 100% American is your goal.
There are even some phrases like "assembled in America" or "traditional American quality" that raise questions. To read how those are handled by the FTC click here.
Since it can be a little confusing and overwhelming, we have decided for the month of June, to focus our fact finders on buying American. We’re going to take a look products that you buy every week, and some that you don't buy often, but you spend a lot of money on. You'll be surprised by what we found when we share it with you all this month on 7 and 4 News.
