Buy American: it matters

By Michael Wittig

Recent recalls of Chinese products are a reminder of one of the dark truths about a global economy: Americans buy from abroad because of a perception that foreign goods are cheaper. Unfortunately, all Americans ultimately suffer because of this belief.

American industry cannot compete against emerging economies on a cost-only basis. Overseas labor is cheap. Benefits like health insurance, workman’s compensation, and retirement drive up the cost of American products, while many foreign manufacturers do not pay for these things. Ensuring workplace safety and protecting the environment also make American products more expensive, whereas many foreign companies operate in a regulatory vacuum, endangering the lives of their own employees while poisoning the global environment.

Another dark truth about the global economy is that consumers have more control over international trade than governments. As such, Americans are mostly to blame for our current trade imbalances in energy and consumer goods.

America imports two-thirds of the oil we consume because we buy over-sized, inefficient vehicles and because we do not take energy conservation seriously. Promises of energy independence by our politicians are outrageous lies.

America has a huge trade deficit because we buy products on the basis of cost without regard to where these products come from, resulting in the loss of American manufacturing jobs. Again, political promises to bring jobs back home mean nothing.

Our corporations are not blameless either. In the quest for greater profits, many companies have closed factories and moved manufacturing operations to countries with lower wages and a less restrictive regulatory climate. The CEO’s and the stockholders gain a little, while America loses a lot.

American industry has a responsibility to ensure that American product quality is second to none. While domestic product quality on the whole continues to improve, some domestic products are still inferior in quality and efficiency to their competition, particularly in the automotive industry. When American products are inferior to foreign products they can’t compete, neither here nor abroad.

In truth, most American products are of equal or superior quality when compared to the competition, and just as often the price difference between American and foreign products is small. That small price difference is how America has achieved the quality of life we have so far enjoyed. That quality of life is now in danger because of the choices we make every time we walk into a store.

The outsourcing of manufacturing jobs over the last couple of decades exacerbates yet another problem: a lack of domestic products in our stores. All too often, we are forced to buy from abroad because there are no domestic alternatives on the shelves. Even when American products are available they are often difficult to find in many retail outlets, especially the larger discount chains.

We need to put pressure on our retailers to put American made products on the shelves, and to put them in places where consumers can see them. If retailers are unwilling to do this voluntarily, legislative efforts mandating equal shelf space for American products could compel them to do so. Such legislation would not inhibit free trade, but it would level the playing field for American entrepreneurs struggling to find a market for their products. As long as retailers leave American products off the shelves, American manufacturing jobs will continue to disappear, and our ability to buy American will diminish even further.

What we really need is a “Read the Label, Compare the Quality” campaign, a nation-wide campaign encouraging all Americans to look at the country of origin for all the products we buy, something that many Americans do not do today. American consumers need to know how many of the things we buy come from outside our borders. We should be able to put foreign-made products beside their domestic counterparts so that we can compare the quality, and compare the price. Our American way of life would be greatly enhanced if we were able to see how little extra it really does cost to buy American, and more of us would be able to live the American dream.

Just a little something to think about while we figure out how to dispose of all the defective junk we bought from China.