Yesterday the White House highlighted a “Made in America” product showcase. Each state had a company represented and of course, I had to check out NJ since that's my home state – it was Campbell Soup Co. who offered tomato soup samples to government officials. Here is a full list so you can see what your state had to offer:

State Product Manufacturer
Alabama Bucket trucks Altec
Alaska Bowls Alaska Bowl Company
Arizona Golf clubs PING Golf
Arkansas Conveyor belt Hytrol
California Wine The California Wine Institute
Colorado Neon signs Gordon Signs
Connecticut Helicopters Sikorsky
Delaware NASA space suit ILC Dover LP
Florida Tumblers Tervis
Georgia Food Chick Fil A
Hawaii Rum Koloa Rum Co.
Idaho Engineered wood floors Boise Cascade
Illinois Farm equipment Caterpillar
Indiana Brooms Broomcorn Johnnys
Iowa Body armor, dummies RMA Armament
Kansas Lawn mower Grasshopper Company
Kentucky Apparel Campbellsville Apparel
Louisiana Baseball bats Marucci Sports
Maine Yacht Hinckley Yachts
Maryland Crab pot Health Crab Pots
Massachusetts Horseshoes St. Pierre Manufacturing
Michigan Fabric Milton Manufacturing
Minnesota Wool blankets Faribault Woolen Mill
Mississippi Forklift Taylor Machine Works
Missouri Door hinges Beehler Corporation
Montana Fishing gear Simms Fishing
Nebraska Beef Greater Omaha Packing
Nevada Candy Kimmie Candy
New Hampshire Doughnuts Cider Belly Doughnuts
New Jersey Soup Campbells Soup
New Mexico Plastics Desert Plastics
New York Piano Steinway
North Carolina Soda Cheerwine
North Dakota Military outerwear Dakota Outerwear
Ohio Shovels, rakes Bully Tools
Oklahoma Trencher/excavator DitchWitch
Oregon Sights and scopes Leupold and Stevens
Pennsylvania Wheel barrows Ames
Rhode Island Beer Narragansett Brewing Company
South Carolina Cushions Casual Cushion Company
South Dakota Shotgun chaps K Bar J Leather
Tennessee Guitars Gibson Guitars
Texas Cowboy hats Stetson Hats
Utah Flags Colonial Flag Company
Vermont Maple syrup Dubie Family Maple
Virginia Flags National Capital Flag Company
Washington Water bottles Liberty Bottleworks
West Virginia Iconic fiesta line of china Homer Laughlin China Company
Wisconsin Firetrucks Pierce Manufacturing
Wyoming Model aircraft Aviat Aircraft

Made in America: will you pay the price? Doubtful

Reuters/Ipsos released a poll and found 70% of Americans think it is “very important” or “somewhat important” to buy US-made products. Despite that sentiment, 37% said they would refuse to pay more for US made goods versus imports and 26% would pay up to 5% more to buy American. Lower-income Americans were the most enthusiastic about buying US goods, despite being the least able to afford paying extra for them.

In the end, companies make decisions on what makes it the most profit and for the most part that is manufacturing abroad with lower labor expenses. Perhaps they will build a token American factory for positive PR but it doesn't make a lot of business sense to bring back factories to US soil which isn't realistic anyway. Skilled labor (those above 25-year-olds and with a 4 year college degree) is running at full employment with just a 2.5% unemployment rate. And does anyone dream of having their kids work in a factory? I don't think so.

Do you only buy made in America? Would you pay a premium for US made goods?

“State map of USA” by Kevin Hutchinson is licensed under CC BY 2.0

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