Sitting side by side on the shelf, would you pay a bit more for an item made in your own country?

It depends on my priorities. If I want it to be a long term purchase I go with quality. Short term the cheaper.

Many of our items are assembled here but sourced elsewhere. Or vice versa. Also our economy is more globally linked then it ever was. Nationalism in form of buying power isnt as simple as it once was. And I haven’t made up my mind as the ethics to it. It is most def an almost irrelevant gray issue in my mind.

I don’t care where it is made. As long as it serves me good I’ll go for it. Otherwise scram!

There are more effective ways to show my patriotism apart from buying things made by my country. And do you expect me to waste my money on something so bad just because it is made in my country?

Depends on the inherent quality of the country of origin in making the product.

I buy US made running shoes. But I buy Italian regular shoes. I will only by produce from certain countries (US, Australia, New Zealand) because I am concerned about chemicals used to grow. I would buy Chinese made electronic devices, but never anything decorative or comestible.

I will not by a car made by a US company.

It’s hard to tell anymore where some is really built. They bring assemblies from all around the world to be assembled in a plant either here or abroad but you can never tell how much is built here. I’m fairly cheap so cost is an issue but I always buy the one I like best regardless of where it says it originated.

I love my American Car. Mileage isn’t great but it’s the most fun car to drive I’ve ever owned.

If it is of same quality, I am going for the cheaper price. If I ever have it that I make more money sleeping then i can spend when i am awake, then my loyalty would go to “Made in America” if indeed I can actually still find stuff made here.

It really depends, but many of the things I buy are things that the US isn’t the best at. For instance, when I needed a set of calipers for work, I went right for the best ones on the market; Mitutoyo. If America wants my money, they can get it through the free market by providing a quality product at a competitive price.

@Jaxk The funny part there is that your “American” car is more likely to have been made outside the US than many “imports”. My old Subaru came from Indiana, my first VW was from Pennsylvania, and my only Ford was built in Canada. As you might imagine, I couldn’t help but laugh at the ignorance when the NASCAR crowd tried to keep Toyota out for “not being American”.

I would be willing to pay more for items made in the US, if the components or ingredients were also from the US. Sometimes I see “Made in the US from imported ingredients.” That does not fly for this example, for me.

As far as cars go, I can assure you that after owning a Honda, I am now a Honda girl. My Civic had over 210k miles on it with never a major problem other than routine maintenance necessary I now own a Honda CRV. Hopefully it has the same success as the Civic did. .

It depends on the country. I have and will spend more for made in America, or to not buy certain things from certain countries.

I avoid buying fish from China. I’m concerned about buying dishes from China. Silk from China, a whole different story. They are known for silk. When I worked for Armani he went to China for silk, America (and sometimes Italy) for denim. For him it was a matter of quality.

I definitely prefer to consider the American made product. I ask and check where things are made.

I avoided American cars for years. It was shocking to me when I was in my teens and 20’s how the American car manufacturers just didn’t get it. Similar to @jca Japanese cars have always been the most reliable for me, although I have to say my last Volkswagon didn’t give me any trouble and I had a Corvette once that didn’t.

This is something that gnaws at me incessantly. Time and again, when it’s time to buy or replace something basic, I find myself on the receiving end handed inferior schlock at an inflated price. And it’s across the board, from a pair of overalls that now weigh a pound less due to inferior denim, to waffle irons with electrical cords that melt in front of you. But vigilance is required when buying damned near anything off the shelf these days. Thank God for the Internet, but even there, finding what you need can require dogged persistence.

Totally depends on the item and my desire for it.

Trying to puzzle out how I could be sitting side by side on the shelf.

Quality has a lot to do with it over price, but for the most part I have no problem paying a bit more for a Canadian made product, knowing I am supporting Canadian workers and their families.

@janbb: If you and I were sitting side by side on a shelf, it would be a New York cat with a New Jersey penguin.

I just don’t know about this debate. Buying foreign products may be putting money into the pockets of the desperately, desperately poor, and I’m for that…but it could also be encouraging child labor. But child labor may be keeping some family alive. It’s a situation we can’t really fathom in the U.S.

I’m really torn on that particular issue.

Yes, if I could find it.

Well, they’re sitting side by side on the shelf, @rojo.

@jca I should be suspicious of any penguin claiming to be made in America. Which gives me an idea for a question.

@jerv My old Subaru came from Indiana, my first VW was from Pennsylvania, and my only Ford was built in Canada.

A Ford I drove in ‘88 had a Mazda transmission.

Yeah, Dutchess, in the world of fantasy. Try and find that situation in the real world. I heard one time several years ago that the difference in the price of a shirt manufactured in the US and one made overseas was pennies, less than a dime per shirt but it was enough to make the big corps. buy from the overseas market even though given the choice, which they weren’t, consumers would have paid the extra nickle and kept the textile mills open here in the US.

@Yetanotheruser Ford and Mada used to be tight. The ‘98 Mazda 626 my wife had had a Ford transmission. The CD4E has a nasty habit of melting. Between that, blowing two transmissions in a ‘98 Saturn, and having a variety of other transmission-related issues with every American car I’ve owned, I distrust American cars.

I think that if the item looked to be in better condition and from my country I would pay more. Otherwise I would go the cheep way.

Only if the item is of equal quality. Good economic practice states that countries should focus their business activities on their strengths. I’m not going to buy a bad product to prop up an uncompetitive sector of our industry, but I’ll also not buy foreign if we produce a particular item or service competitively.

Definitely not, for only that reason. I don’t see the point. I pay more for items which I believe benefit the world, not my country’s economy. I look for organic products to keep the environment healthy and reduce animal suffering, as well as fair trade to reduce human exploitation.

I do factor in the distance items have to have traveled, but other aspects are more important to me.