Buy American!

Buy American! It is a great concept. By purchasing goods made in the United States, we are helping our own businesses to make money, keep jobs, and keep our currency within our own borders. What can be more perfect than this? Unfortunately, reality is not as perfect.

What does “Buy American” mean anyway? Does it mean purchasing items from US companies based only in the United States? Does it mean purchasing items made in the US, even if the owner of the plant is a foreign company? What about an item made in Mexico, even if a US company owns the plant where the item was made? There are many questions in this little two-word phrase.

One of the largest problems with a “Buy American” strategy is that there will be fallout from foreign businesses and countries. Just as foreign companies operate within our borders and/or foreign products line our shelves at the stores; US companies operate and sell their goods in foreign countries. If we try to legislate “Buy American,” foreign countries can increase tariffs on our goods or deny our companies from operating outside of our borders. In the end, US companies could actually lose sales, or we will lose access to resources and goods that aren’t produced domestically.

While you can attempt to legislate a consumer approach as “Buy American,” it is better to give the consumer a reason to buy American made products. Many consumers have reservations about buying products made in China, be it because of their treatment of Tibet, the low labor standards, or the risk of inferior or unsafe products used. Unfortunately, much of what we consume comes from China due to cost. If we were to find a way to lower the costs associated with production while maintaining or increasing quality of domestic goods, there would be no need to legislate a “Buy American” philosophy.

Related articles:
A Disgruntled Republican – “Please Don’t ‘Buy American’”
Disillusioned Words – “Keep the ‘Buy American’ Clause”