Made in the USA

What does it mean when a product is “Made in America”?

I love fair trade products, but I also believe in supporting local businesses and buying items ethically made in the United States.  Why not support our own economy?  However, many iconic American products are not actually manufactured in the United States.  When an items states “Made in America” or “Made in the USA” that indicates that all or virtually all of the item is made in the United States rather than imported.  It’s trickier to figure out than one might expect. For most products there is no law requiring a company to disclose the percentage of content made in the USA.  However, such laws do exist for textiles.  One law is that the product’s final processing or assembly must be in the United States.

To learn if a product is truly made in the United States may take some further research, so let me do the research for you!  To learn about some tried and true American products check out my Made in the USA blog posts.  To learn more about the Made in the USA Standard read more information at www.ftc.gov.