Buying preferably nation made goods

[Slicer299]

When I was at school, 25 years ago, we we taught that Japanese preferably bought japanese cars. Time has passed since then, and if I take my own country in example, most of our heavy industries (except a few, cars, tires maybe) have disappeared. Most moved to eastern Europe, and Asia. I'm not sure there're still many places where you can buy a shirt made here (luxe doesn't count). But, these past years, suddenly (but maybe too late), some kind of " nation made first " concept came around. You see some stickers, with the french flag (home made), german flag (european ally, synonym of quality too), and sometimes european, all telling you that the thing it is buit in the country, or in a nieghbour one. Two decades ago, only the price mattered. Between 2 similar micro-wave ovens, anyone I knew chose the cheapest, even if the one built in France cost 10 more €, nobody cared and took the cheapest. I honestly never thought (and regret) we were very patriotic here (I sometimes envy the US on the subject of patriotism, even if it sometimes tends to be excessive in my opinion). But it seems thing changed and that people are more sensible to that argument.

How is it in your country ? Do you think it does/could work ? Do you feel a " patriotic buying fiber " running through you ? And do you think it does make a real change economically speaking ?

The WTO has made it illegal to label meat in the US with the country of origin. Canada and Mexico sued the US in international courts and not only got the practice banned but are demanding a $3 billion payout from the US taxpayers over it. So in my country it is now a crime to want to buy things that come from my own country because other countries think its "unfair" for us to have that choice.

http://www.ibtimes.com/canada-mexico...t-laws-1953751

[Kryctos]

This talk about nation made products made me curious is it illegal to relabel products made abroad to made in USA ? My uncle works in a warehouse where they do this for heavy machinery parts they only inform the buyer of the real origin of the piece under special circumstances.

[breadisfunny]

I have a pair of shoes Made in Vietnam that have lasted me a little over 2 years now.

i have shoes made in china or wherever nike makes there shoes that have lasted over 5 years and going.

[Nadiru]

The US makes enough stuff that you can choose to Buy American, for pretty much everything. Most other countries don't have that sort of ability to choose, so I take advantage of it, even if it means paying a bit more.

[Kulanae]

The US makes enough stuff that you can choose to Buy American, for pretty much everything. Most other countries don't have that sort of ability to choose, so I take advantage of it, even if it means paying a bit more.

Hmm.....I put that to the test when I went out to buy a set of flatware. Good luck trying to find any made in America. The weird thing right now is a lot of auto's are made here in America.....by companies based in other countries due to transportation costs in getting anything here. So chances are if you buy a Toyota in the US, it's made here in the US.

For example:

http://www.cars.com/go/advice/Story....e&aff=national

7 of the top 10 American made cars are from Toyota and Honda.

[Kuntantee]

I try to avoid Turkish products because they are, in general, inferior and more expensive for some odd reasons. I prefer Japan or German tech products.

ps: except for food.

[Deleted]

I personally don´t care where things are made and I honestly don´t know anyone who does so either.

I also never boycot products because of the country, something that happened in a country or because of working conditions etc. It changes absolutely nothing and I am the only one who `suffers`.

[n7stormreaver]

If it's not food, i actually try not to buy local stuff.

I'm from Russia.

[Nadiru]

Hmm.....I put that to the test when I went out to buy a set of flatware. Good luck trying to find any made in America. The weird thing right now is a lot of auto's are made here in America.....by companies based in other countries due to transportation costs in getting anything here. So chances are if you buy a Toyota in the US, it's made here in the US.

For example:

http://www.cars.com/go/advice/Story....e&aff=national

7 of the top 10 American made cars are from Toyota and Honda.

http://libertytabletop.com/

Three seconds on Google. The US still makes a lot of stuff. A lot of stuff.

[Sunseeker]

If you have the choice between two equivalent products in terms of quality, will you prefer to buy a " home-made " product even if it's a little more expensive, or is that argument not taken in consideration at all ?

I would, yes. I even go for regional stuff if I can. I'm more concerned with locally-sourced food than tech though.

[Deleted]

Does France actually produce anything besides wine, cheese, snooty waiters and Orangina?

[Puupi]

Always prefer local/Finnish products when possible/wallet allows it.

[Orlong]

A lot of those tools should say "assembled in america"

Im pretty sure 95% of Snap On tools are manufactured in the USA, not just assembled

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The WTO has made it illegal to label meat in the US with the country of origin. Canada and Mexico sued the US in international courts and not only got the practice banned but are demanding a $3 billion payout from the US taxpayers over it. So in my country it is now a crime to want to buy things that come from my own country because other countries think its "unfair" for us to have that choice.

http://www.ibtimes.com/canada-mexico...t-laws-1953751

Nobody wants their food to come from Mexico, where we cant inspect thier animals and we dont know what they are feeding them or pumping into them which is why Mexico doesnt like our country of origin law, and If I was in charge of the US, Id tell the "International Court" to shove it

[vindicatorx]

If you have the choice between two equivalent products in terms of quality, will you prefer to buy a " home-made " product even if it's a little more expensive, or is that argument not taken in consideration at all ?

By little you means 3+ times as much? Not generally and most places won't stock these items either as people will always choose the cheaper choice. I can buy a six piece screwdriver set made in the US for $39.99 or buy one made in China for $7.97? I mean which are you going to buy?

[Orlong]

By little you means 3+ times as much? Not generally and most places won't stock these items either as people will always choose the cheaper choice. I can buy a six piece screwdriver set made in the US for $39.99 or buy one made in China for $7.97? I mean which are you going to buy?

The made in the USA one. Those cheap Chinese screwdriver sets break so easy youll easily end up buying 6 or 7 sets of them before you need to replace the USA made one if you ever need to replace it

[Deleted]

I feel like a lot of people are into "buying local" in the UK. Most people I know are happy to support local production even if it does cost a tiny bit more. IIRC they even label things like meat with a flag so you know it's produced by the UK nowadays.

[Strear]

Does France actually produce anything besides wine, cheese, snooty waiters and Orangina?

We do produce cars (Renault, Peugeot, Citroën), vegetables, meat and fruits (yoghurts : Danone), tools (Stihl, Facom), household appliances (Seb, Moulinex, Tefal, Magimix ...), and I probably forget many more (see, we still produce things ).
Some might argue that everything's not 100 % made in France, but it still gives work to people in our assembly factories no ?

By little you means 3+ times as much? Not generally and most places won't stock these items either as people will always choose the cheaper choice. I can buy a six piece screwdriver set made in the US for $39.99 or buy one made in China for $7.97? I mean which are you going to buy?

It depends, if I think short term, I'll buy the cheap chinese ones. If I think long term, I'll still be using the " expensive " ones (Facom here in example) in 10 years, where it'd probably be the 5th set with the chinese ones. Of course, it still depends on how often you use your tools. For something you'll use once a year, yes, the chinese things can be enough.

[Kulanae]

http://libertytabletop.com/

Three seconds on Google. The US still makes a lot of stuff. A lot of stuff.

Wow.....congrats.....you found THE only US flatware company left. What retail outlet carries their product? Hmmm?

It's nice they exist......but easy to find......no.

[Acidbaron]

It's a good idea for ecological purposes. I try to do so but it's not easy even on markets where everything is imported from all over europe.

[Nadiru]

Wow.....congrats.....you found THE only US flatware company left. What retail outlet carries their product? Hmmm?

It's nice they exist......but easy to find......no.

Bed Bath and Beyond carries their stuff, and they do mail order. Like I said, three seconds on Google led me straight to it. That's about as "easy to find" as you're going to get.