Made in the USA

[chazus]

My question is it worth it to you to buy goods made and manufactured in your home country?

I don't bother because half the things that claim they're made/manufactured in the US aren't. It ends up being self back-patting.

[Molis]

I will buy local as in shop at a small store instead of Wal Mart, but made in the USA no.

If USA companies can not compete, and I will not give them charity to enable the shitty practice.

There are no Zenith TVs, MotoX phones, or Ford cars in my house.

[Sunseeker]

Yes, assuming they're not crap.

[chubbybunny]

like to see your american phone, and if you say "iphone", they're not made in the US, just made in sweatshops abroad where the employees get peanuts while the fat employees of apple get everything else for doing nothing.

[Stormspark]

No. If my countries products want to compete, they should do so by being cheaper, or being better. Not from my charity.

This. Right now American made stuff is trash. The only local products I buy are food.

[Vash The Stampede]

I try not to buy China when I can, but often I don't have much of a choice. Either China's so cheap that I would be insane to buy from America/Europe/Japan or only China makes it.

[Independent voter]

Top U.S. goods exports
Here's a breakdown of the biggest U.S. export industries in 2017, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.

Food, beverage and feed: $133 billion. Soybeans were the number one product in this category, with sales of $22 billion, followed by meat and poultry at $18 billion.

Crude oil, fuel and other petroleum products: $109 billion. This is one of the fastest growing areas of US exports, up 37% in just the last year.

Civilian aircraft and aircraft engines: $99 billion. This is what makes Boeing (BA) the nation's largest single exporter.

Auto parts, engines and car tires: $86 billion. Many of these are shipped to assembly plants owned by both US and foreign automakers in Mexico and Canada. It's one of the reasons losing NAFTA would be so hard for the auto industry.

Industrial machines: $57 billion.

Passenger cars: $53 billion. American auto plants supply much of North and South America with cars, and also ship to other markets as well. BMW's largest plant is in South Carolina, where it builds all of its X series SUVs. Last year it exported nearly three-quarters of the 371,000 cars it built there, making it the biggest car exporter in the United States.

Pharmaceuticals: $51 billion.


Top U.S. service exports
But the goods that the United States exports only tell part of the story. Services are the biggest US export, with total foreign sales of $778 billion last year. Indeed, the United States has a $243 billion trade surplus in services, which is good news since service industries account for 71% of US jobs.

These are the service industries that bring in the most money:

Travel and transportation: $236 billion.

Finance and insurance: $76 billion.

Sales from intellectual property: $49 billion. This includes software, movies and television shows.

https://money.cnn.com/2018/03/07/new...rts/index.html

[Cruor]

I have a slight bias as an American but I buy whatever is best. My vehicle is American but 10 years ago it certainly would not be. Funnily enough, none of my guns are American, countries that cant have guns make the best ones... which is odd. USA makes some really quality AR 15s but they are AR 15s... I'd rather have a piston operated rifle, so I have a CZ 805 Bren. Phones I go Samsung because I hate Apple. Most of my food is American grown, bananas aren't, pretty sure the rest is.

[Moadar]

I try. Hard in some cases like tools. Especially with klein producing garbage lately. Mostly buy wera now. Power tools is another matter.

[Kellhound]

I always buy made in the USA when possible and practical. Better to support manufacturing at home than in China!

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I have a slight bias as an American but I buy whatever is best. My vehicle is American but 10 years ago it certainly would not be. Funnily enough, none of my guns are American, countries that cant have guns make the best ones... which is odd. USA makes some really quality AR 15s but they are AR 15s... I'd rather have a piston operated rifle, so I have a CZ 805 Bren. Phones I go Samsung because I hate Apple. Most of my food is American grown, bananas aren't, pretty sure the rest is.

You can buy US made piston AR-15s, and I cant think of a handgun currently manufactures outside of the US that I would buy (curse you Browning!). iPhones are mainly made in China, but Apple is a pain in the ass company to deal with.

[conceptKitty]

Never really knew this was a thing. I don't really care what came from where.

[Kellhound]

I try. Hard in some cases like tools. Especially with klein producing garbage lately. Mostly buy wera now. Power tools is another matter.

With the death of US made Craftsman, finding reasonably priced US made tools is no easy for sure.

[Aggrophobic]

No, why would I?

[Vichan]

I try to whenever possible

[Greevir]

No. I am perfectly happy with buying products produced from child labor.

[Stelio Kontos]

Greece is small, and so doesn't produce the range of products larger countries do.

However, I do usually try to buy Greek food items. Food in the US usually is pretty poor quality, in my opinion. America's take on feta is honestly usually garbage, as an example. I will, every few months, order some food items from a Greek import business. Namely Greek oregano. I read that altitude and soil affect the aroma of oregano, and I just find the Greek version a lot more aromatic than what I find here. I also prefer kalamata olives, but that's just a flavor issue. So if I can find Greek items, I do like to support those businesses, but it's usually not a lot out here in Seattle.

[Clevername]

OK here's my caveat, Is it worth it to you to spend more for a locally owned business as opposed to a mega-chain.

Ex. Buying a hammer for 6 dollars at the mom and pop hardware store or same hammer from wal-mart for 4 dollars?

[Moadar]

With the death of US made Craftsman, finding reasonably priced US made tools is no easy for sure.

Yep and almost impossible for power tools. Unless you want to count "assembled in the US" as the same as made in the us. I caved in long ago and just use Milwaukee.

[zenkai]

What farms do you get your produce from?

Local Farmers Market

[Thage]

I generally buy based on quality. If that means something made here in the USA, awesome. If it means buying an imported good, also awesome. The meaningful difference is where you shop, not what you buy. I prefer locally-owned mom-and-pop businesses so the money stays flowing in the economy rather than be hoarded in offshore banks, where it doesn't do anyone any good. I'm fortunate in that I live in an area where there's a farmer's market, a butcher who gets his meat from local sources, delis and small grocery shops galore, and a family-owned nerdy-goods store (games, tabletop rulebooks, dice, and related paraphernalia and merch), so I can do all my shopping without compromising that 'keep it local' preference.

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OK here's my caveat, Is it worth it to you to spend more for a locally owned business as opposed to a mega-chain.

Ex. Buying a hammer for 6 dollars at the mom and pop hardware store or same hammer from wal-mart for 4 dollars?

I'll happily spend a couple more bucks at Joe Local's Auto Shop to get headlight bulbs versus hitting up Walmart, but again, I'm lucky in that I live in an area with a lot of locally-owned stores that haven't been driven under by chain retailers, and they keep their prices fair enough that I don't mind the little bit more it costs.