I was born in the early 1940's and remember during the war years and
thereafter that the term "Made in Japan" meant the product was
generally cheaply and poorly made and of low quality. At the time, people in
the US would not consider buying such junk. The products were of
such poor quality that frequently the Japanese manufacturers would
illegally put "Made in USA" stickers on them or no one would even consider buying
them. After process control was adopted by the Japanese
manufacturers things began to improve significantly and they are now a quality leader.
With the greed of the American manufacturing sector pushing to
optimize their profit pictures they are increasingly moving to
off-shore
manufacturing. This allows them to improve their profits while in
many cases they provide a poorer quality product into the US
marketplace. It has come full circle and so now if one wants to buy an
American made product, it is nearly impossible to do so. Check in your
current catalogs and see how many consumer goods are made in China
versus those made elsewhere.
Now
"Made in Japan" generally means a higher quality product than that provided
by many American manufacturers because they are importing products
(without tariff regulations) strictly on the basis of their profits,
not on a viable product quality basis.
The problem to the American consumer is compounded since there is a
general failure of our government to regulate the importation of materials and
goods and to adequately protect the consumer against junk products.
[The American manufacturers also provide little warantee protection to the consumer.]
I believe the problem can only be dispensed with when the American
consumer becomes an educated sophisticated consumer and "requires" the
US-based manufacturers to meet realistic quality demands.
Personally, I refuse to purchase anything "made in China" and I will
continue to do so until their products achieve safety and quality
goals. Given the lack of sophistication of many consumers,
I may be wearing thread-bare clothes, walking in run-down shoes and
wearing a old watch for a long time to come.
Comments, please!
Buy American?
Re: Buy American?
