So I was reading this post “12 Iconic American Products That Are No Longer Made In The U.S.” about all the products no longer Made in America. Iconic items such as Rawlings baseballs, Barbie, and Etch-a-Sketch, are typically manufactured offshore. It seems sad.
There’s a lot of nostalgia attached to many of these traditional American products. Not to mention thousands of manufacturing jobs sent overseas.
Fortunately, according to the September 2012 CNN Money article, “What it takes to be ‘Made in USA’,” there’s been an increased demand for American-made products. The “Made in the U.S.A.” label has become a symbol of pride. However, before a company can stamp the “Made in the U.S.A.”on their products, they have to review the 44-page guidebook provided by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). It requires the product or nearly the entire product be made in the United States, which can sometimes be difficult to determine due to global supply chains. With all this said, why should consumers buy American-made products?
American manufacturing jobs reduce the unemployment rate and expand the tax base to pay for benefits, such as Medicare, Social Security and payroll taxes to run our local and federal government. When jobs stay in America, businesses and individuals generate billions in taxes. By importing more than we export, we lose money, we lose tax dollars, suppress economic growth and the American way of Sustainability economy.
Even though some of your favorite brand names are now manufactured offshore, there are still a large number of made stateside. Still other manufacturers, such as Levi Strauss, make some products here and others off-shore.
Here are just a few names from a very long list of companies that still manufacture their products in the U.S.A.:
- Airstream (Ohio) – RVs
- Crayola (Pennsylvania) – crayons
- Gibson Guitars (Tennessee) – musical instruments
- Harley Davidson (Wisconsin) – motorcycles
- Hershey (Pennsylvania) – candy
- Louisville Slugger (Kentucky) – baseball bats
- New Balance (Maine) and Red Wing (Minnesota) – shoes
- Surefire (California) and Mag Light (California) – flashlights
- Vornado (Kansas) – fans
- Zippo (Pennsylvania) – lighters
Another brand name to add to this list is RubberForm®. RubberForm® Recycled Products proudly makes products from your scrap tires and offers a complete product line of eco-friendly, green parking lot and road safety products that are made in America. The next time your community, school or public building wants to use a recycled material product such as a speed cushion, speed bump, parking curb, aka parking lot wheel stops, insist that it is made in America with scrap rubber material sourced from you and your neighbor. There is no reason at any cost to buy recycled products made in another country even if they are from right across the border.
For more information, please check out RubberForm’s® website and its weekly blog for relevant information about U.S. made green, recycled products. And feel free to contact RubberForm® with questions about their recycled, made in the U.S.A. products.