Notice something different about this site? If you’re a regular visitor you’ll probably realize we made some rather significant changes this week with Buy American. Although the objective of this site remains the same, which is to promote U.S. manufacturers in global markets. The content has now shifted from writing about leading manufacturers in specific industries in the United States to providing more useful ideas, tips and strategies to promote such companies. No longer will we focus primarily on leading manufacturers. Now, at the request of many readers, we will provide information for U.S. manufacturers of all sizes seeking to enter or expand overseas.

IndustryWeek Discussing The ‘Buy American’ Mentality

Today my colleague visited the forum over at IndustryWeek and found an interesting thread about buying American products. By the way, IndustryWeek’s forum is a real good site for manufacturing professionals. It’s not as active as it can be but it does appear to be gaining in popularity among the manufacturing community, particularly the U.S. If you haven’t seen it, go head and check it out at http://forums.industryweek.com/.

The thread I’m talking about on IndustryWeek’s forum starts with a post indicating how Americans should purchase cars from Detroit’s ‘Big 3′ based on quality, and not patriotism. The item provides a link of a story written by a columnist of the Detroit Free Press. The article itself provides information on when and when not one should purchase American products. The piece is an interesting read and provides some thoughtful points. The thread itself currently only has about 4 or 5 posts on the matter and the opinions are quite different. One poster indicated the large number of lost jobs in the U.S. moving overseas. Everyone knows that but what is the real reason? More importantly, what is the solution?

Is American Innovation Dead?

Everybody knows the great business minds in the last century. The Ford’s, Rockefeller’s, Gould’s, Carnegie and others. These men built empires and created millions of jobs in America. They were forward thinkers, fearless and understood the importance of innovation in a competitive world. Where are these men and women today? The real movers that create entirely new industries and technologies. Where are they? Today it seems the majority of CEO’s and big business executives are more concerned where their own wealth and possessions than anything else. What if men like Andrew Carnegie and Henry Ford thought the same way these CEO’s do today? Ford’s dream was to have every American be able to afford his cars. Hence, the assembly line. That’s the kind of innovation we need today in America. With today’s energy crisis, innovation has never been more important, and I believe we will prevail.

More ‘Buy American’ Websites

Every time I turn around there is another Web site being established focusing on the so-called Buy American cause. I searched Google for Buy American and found a number of sites indicating why Americans must buy American products. Some of them indicate buying American is being patriotic. But is it really? The late author and capitalist Ayn Rand believed buying strictly American is UN-American. What do we say? Like any smart shopper buy the product(s) you believe offer the best value for what you can afford. If that product is made in America then all the better. If it’s not, then so be it. Being patriotic has nothing to do with it. If a company wants your business they should have to earn it, whether their products are made in America, Japan, Germany, China or anywhere else.