no more made in china?

[petefrom bearswamp]

I have purchased a few items lately that no longer say made in china, and maybe they are not.
The packages now say assembled in the USA from domestic and imported parts?
Another marketing ploy?
You betcha

[WV Sawmiller]

   Another ploy is to list "Assembled in North America". I used to see that more when NAFTA was in force. Why didn't they just say "Put together in Mexico"?

[HemlockKing]

I been seeing "PRC" instead of China now. Yes I know that is China as well

[sawguy21]

It is near impossible to avoid. I get so frustrated with cheap equipment and tools but in many cases that is all that is available, Joe Consumers demand for the lowest price has driven quality out of the market.

[thecfarm]

And don't forget companies want to make as much as they can. 

[Resonator]

So PRC isn't the Piedmont Region of Carolina? ???

[Tacotodd]

Pacific Rim Country 

[sawguy21]

Peoples Republic of China

[barbender]

Hmm. I don't mind second rate cheap crap coming from China. But when they are the only place you can get premium power tools like Dewalt and Milwaukee, that bothers me.

[Tacotodd]

Some republic. Led by a guy named Sum Ting Wong. 

[WV Sawmiller]

  Okay - you made me do it. My China story. In 2006 I was working on a Gold and Copper mine  (Oyu Tolgoi) in the desert of Mongolia about 50 miles north of the Chinese border. On my first R&R (every 8 weeks we got 2 weeks off) I flew from Ulaanbattar (Capital of Mongolia) home via Beijing. We landed and I went through customs and immigration then headed to my new gate for my connecting flight about 2 hours later. As I started checking my pockets I realized I could not find my (brand new) US passport. I finally decided I must have left it in the seat back on the plane while I was filling out the forms prior to landing so I went back to my last gate only to find the plane had already been pulled away from the gate so I had no choice but to go to airport security and report I had lost my passport. The airport assigned a little Chinese lady about  5' tall who spoke only a little broken English. We went to the last gate to make sure i had not left it on the counter there. While all this was going on my connecting flight left without me.

 My little China doll (Not!) finally called some contacts and said "You come me" so I obediently followed her down to the baggage area and she walked over to a closet sized office with a "Lost and Found" sign on the door. Lo and behold - there it was. Of all the places to walk off and leave a brand new US Passport Beijing is not high on my recommended places to do so but to their credit the staff had turned it in and I and my little friend were now reunited.

 I asked my little Lotus Blossom what to do now as I did not have a visa to visit China. She succinctly and sagely advised "You buy ticket China Airway. You go 'way". I checked and found a one way ticket on China Airways was somewhere north of $800 so I told her "No, there is a daily flight so I'll catch the one tomorrow on my original airline."  My little rice cake told me "You no got visa. You buy ticket China Airways. You go 'way." I told her (with visions of Tom Hanks in The Terminal movie) "No, I guess I'll just have to stay here in the airport till then".  My little steamed dumpling snatched my passport out of my hand and said "You wait here" and stormed off, I assumed to get a couple of almond eyed storm troopers.

I waited on my bench wondering if they would feed me fish heads and rice in the Chinese prison and after about 30-40 minutes my beloved Panda Princess returned, slapped my passport back in my hand and angrily said "You go 'way. You come back 'morrow." I patiently advised her "I can't go away. I don't have a visa." My silk sorceress replied "I get you visa. Now you go 'way."

Sure enough, inside my passport was a shiny new stamp allowing me to visit the People's Republic of China! Not wanting to push my luck and see if she wanted to have dinner or to show me the sights, I wisely thanked her profusely and trundled off to Baggage Control/Ground Transportation with my carry-on and called a likely looking hotel number and found they did, indeed, offer airport pick-up and they came and got me.

If you have got to be stranded in a foreign country there are worse places than Beijing, China. A nice 3 star hotel cost me about $50. I took a walk around the area observing the street vendors and local stores. I could not find a motorized rickshaw driver who spoke English who could serve as a local guide so returned to my hotel, had a nice very authentic Chinese meal and an early night. The next day the hotel driver took me back to the airport where I caught my flight home 24 hours late. I can't swear to it but I think I saw Miss Manners peeping around one of the support columns in the airport lobby to make sure I got on my flight.

The next time I left from Mongolia I just booked a flight through Moscow to be safe!

[barbender]

"You go way!"😂😂 I've never been to China, but I've had that sentiment directed my way by people of a wide variety of backgrounds😂

[Al_Smith]

Often times on forums people suggest to only use OEM parts for repairs of just about anything .Usually with few exceptions these are much higher priced than off the shelf or "after market " parts .Doesn't make any difference what company the OEM is ,Ford, Harley  Davidson or Caterpillar or the makers of orange chainsaws .
One example recently the ignition coils on my lady fairs GMC Envoy .About 60-70 dollars each OEM and I bought six for 65 bucks aftermarket that were identical , made in Mexico just like OEM except they didn't say GMC . That's the way that game is played .
I might add I worked 29 years in an automotive engine plant and can assure people those components come from all over the  world and a majority are from the Pacific rim .I think in this day and age you really aren't going to find much actual 100 percent made in the USA .

[petefrom bearswamp]

Here's an anecdotal OEM story from the dark ages of the 80s.
I had an 85  chevy 1/2 ton PU with the 6.2 diesel engine
I did my own routine maintenance  such as oil and filter changes etc.
I went to replace the fuel filter which was a small box like affair about 4"x6" and 3 or 4" deep mounted on the firewall, held in place by a bail like that found on canning jars of old.
went to my dealers parts counter to get one.
$38 bucks!
I didnt buy that and went to the NAPA store right across the road.
got one there for as I remember about 12 bucks.
When I went to change it out it the brand and part numbers were identical.
also mistrustful of such a tiny fuel filter, I installed a good sized one in the line as a primary

[Resonator]

On new cars the Monroney window sticker is required to list the % US/Canadian parts used, where the vehicle is assembled, and where the engine and transmission are built. It gets complicated as US and Canada are listed together as "North American", and only greater than 50% content is required for a vehicle to be considered made in North America. Also many Asian and European car brand names are actually assembled in the US, providing US jobs.

[firefighter ontheside]

  Another ploy is to list "Assembled in North America". I used to see that more when NAFTA was in force. Why didn't they just say "Put together in Mexico"?

Because a lot of people don't know that Mexico is in North America

[Old Greenhorn]

Funny I was thinking about this the other day. I had put in my fall order to Madsen's for odds and ends and ordered 3 pairs of leather gauntlet gloves 'for stock' for about 5 bucks a pair(my others are getting frowsy) and I saw they sell 'fallers gloves' which from the description (100% wool, OD green) sounded like they would make good glove liners for deep winter. My favorite (really) cold weather work gloves are gauntlet gloves with a wool liner. Both inexpensive gloves and you take 'em apart at night and dry them out for the next day. I've gotten a decade or more out of good liners. But I haven't been able to find good liners in a  long time that were reasonably priced. So I ordered a couple of pairs for about 4 bucks each. Well, they came in Friday and the gauntlet gloves are from the "American Glove Company" in Dallas Oregon, proudly stated on the front of the label with the flag and all that. On the back of the label it says "made in china". >:( Now the liners had a simple label with no art, it just had the size and "100% wool" and Made in USA. Nice liners, maybe a little heavier than I would like, but very nice and I am quite pleased with them. The gauntlet gloves seem OK too but we will see how they hold up. Some of these gloves I have had last a year or more, some just a month or two before I have a finger hole.
 At least I found some very nice liners I will buy again when I need them.

[Al_Smith]

Stories could abound on this subject .Just one then I'll stop .Heater /AC blend door actuator on a full sized Mercury ,high failure item which Ford did nothing to address because those models were soon to be discontinued . So OEM was  $149 parts and $500 to install .Flat rate book listed as a 5 hour job 
Being a tight wad after market "Doorman " $49 and did it in two hours myself .,Based on that I've spent a life time of being under paid .

[21incher]

Stories could abound on this subject .Just one then I'll stop .Heater /AC blend door actuator on a full sized Mercury ,high failure item which Ford did nothing to address because those models were soon to be discontinued . So OEM was  $149 parts and $500 to install .Flat rate book listed as a 5 hour job
Being a tight wad after market "Doorman " $49 and did it in two hours myself .,Based on that I've spent a life time of being under paid .

If there wasn't 10% going to the BIG GUY it would have only  been $44.10  ;D

[SwampDonkey]

I've been able to find and buy many things made here and USA. That's the convenience of the internet. Yes, some Chinese stuff is cheaper, but a lot isn't either. Take shoes, a $50 Chinese made shoe, they still want $300 locally.

When I buy my fall shirts made in this country by Big Bill brand they are a lot heavier material and sized to fit a Canadian white male. A large is actually a large and not a medium with cuffs constructed to fit a 12 year old and 3" too short in the sleeves. :D The flannel coats are heavier by about double, 7 gram versus 4 gram. You can get stuff, if you know where to go clicking. Same with wood working hand tools, I know where there are all kinds not Chinese. ;D

[Al_Smith]

You can get surprised using familiar names .A few years back I landed about 3/4 of a ton of slightly rusted 3/8"  log chain from TSC for 50 dollars .About squashed my Ranger pick up .So I needed chain hooks and I bought a lot of 20 from flea bay .Campbell -Hausfeld . Used to made USA ,surprise surprise now came from China . I got them made up eventually into 12 feet chains but would need at least that many more to use it all up .You can certainly amass a lot of stuff in a life time of dumpster diving . :D

[hedgerow]

If your wanting some made in the US jeans Google up round house jeans. Been wearing them ten years of so and love them. They are made of heavy material and last. 

[Raider Bill]

Prison Blues. Made on the inside for life on the outside.

[Wudman]

My story has a little different angle.  Years ago, I ordered a right hand drive Subaru station wagon for use on a mail route.  The dealership had promised delivery on a certain date.  I was wrenching daily (it seemed) on two old mail Jeeps to keep my girlfriend operational.  After several different missed delivery dates, I called the dealership for an update on a timeframe.  I got a new excuse this time........."It's hung up in Customs".   Okay.......so about a week later, I get a call from the dealership.  "Your car is here".  We head up there to pick it up...........There was a big banner across the windshield......."Proudly Made By The United Auto Workers Union, Lafayette, Indiana".  Yep, hung up in Customs alright.  Come up with a better lie next time.   :D :D

Wud

[sawguy21]

Whe I was in the helicopter industry I would only accept Crosby-Laughlin rigging from a reputable supplier for that reason. Yes, it cost more and I got flack from purchasing but it would only take one lost load or a serious injury or death to make it pay for itself. We saw a lot of cheap imitations.