What's Happening At Harbor Freight

[dkerfoot]

The requirements are really tough, but as Loring points out, there isn't much enforcement. I have electronic products manufactured here in Michigan. The PCBs are made here, the chips are programmed here, all of the components are soldered to the board here, the case is made here and the PCB is glued into the case here. Even so, I can't claim Made in the USA without an asterisk because it is impossible to ensure that every electronic component is made here too. The most expensive components are usually made here, but are sometimes sourced from other plants overseas, depending on demand, inventory levels, etc. The regulations don't actually allow for an asterisk and a disclaimer, but I am a small enough fish that I don't expect to ever have it become an issue. I certainly feel I meet the spirit of Made in the USA, though sometimes not the exact letter (my disclaimer makes it clear that some components are made overseas).

We live in an global world that will only become more so. Thankfully, we have gotten better at many things and can compete in many ways. In my case, because of low volumes, it is actually cheaper to produce my products here in the US than in China. If I were ordering 10,000 units at a time, then China would be cheaper, but the US has gotten really good at being flexible enough to manufacture the much smaller batches that are a better match for my products. Similarly, many tool & die shops here are thriving by doing all of the pre-production tooling, which eventually gets shipped to China when the product is ready for full production.

Two of my products that I acquired from another company are made in Taiwan. I would prefer to have them made here, but the volumes that I sell don't justify the expense of moving production here. Still, many jobs are being returned to the US after companies have learned of the many complications that come with outsourcing. Long-term, every company needs to find the right balance.

.

[LCHIEN]

on the equipment I design at work, the label says "assembled in the USA using foreign and domestic content."

A large fraction of electronics components are either made or assembled in foreign countries. If you have any primarily electronic equipment with sophisticated electronics I would believe its hard to put a Made in USA label on it.

[sweensdv]

The requirements are really tough, but as Loring points out, there isn't much enforcement. I have electronic products manufactured here in Michigan. The PCBs are made here, the chips are programmed here, all of the components are soldered to the board here, the case is made here and the PCB is glued into the case here. Even so, I can't claim Made in the USA without an asterisk because it is impossible to ensure that every electronic component is made here too. The most expensive components are usually made here, but are sometimes sourced from other plants overseas, depending on demand, inventory levels, etc. The regulations don't actually allow for an asterisk and a disclaimer, but I am a small enough fish that I don't expect to ever have it become an issue. I certainly feel I meet the spirit of Made in the USA, though sometimes not the exact letter (my disclaimer makes it clear that some components are made overseas).

We live in an global world that will only become more so. Thankfully, we have gotten better at many things and can compete in many ways. In my case, because of low volumes, it is actually cheaper to produce my products here in the US than in China. If I were ordering 10,000 units at a time, then China would be cheaper, but the US has gotten really good at being flexible enough to manufacture the much smaller batches that are a better match for my products. Similarly, many tool & die shops here are thriving by doing all of the pre-production tooling, which eventually gets shipped to China when the product is ready for full production.

Two of my products that I acquired from another company are made in Taiwan. I would prefer to have them made here, but the volumes that I sell don't justify the expense of moving production here. Still, many jobs are being returned to the US after companies have learned of the many complications that come with outsourcing. Long-term, every company needs to find the right balance.

See my first response above. Could you not claim that your product is "Built in USA" as I believe what you described as your assembly process is pretty much how my TS was built?

[cabinetman]

Is Americaware made in America?
.


.

[LCHIEN]

Many semiconductor integrated circuits (chips) - microprocessors and memories - are etched in silicon in US foundries where the high tech expertise comes into place. The chips are etched, hundred or thousands at a time upon silicon base wafers as large as 12" in diameter. The wafers are scribed and the wafers broken into individual chips. Wafers and chips also come from big factories in Europe and Taiwan. At this point they are often sent overseas... to be packaged (Philippines, Malaysia are favorites) which doesn't mean cardboard boxes or blister packs, but mounted on metal and ceramic or plastic carriers with leads or contacts and tiny wires bond from the chips to the leads, then sealed with a ceramic cap or more plastic. Then put into tubes or reels for automatic insertion machinery. THe tubes and reels are sold to printed circuit board assemblers in the US, Europe, Asia or other places where assembly of PC Boards is done. PC boards also contain resistors, capacitors, switches, and connectors made in Asia, Europe and the USA. Many manufacturers have multiple factories in different countries making the same parts, and many of the parts are generic meaning that an actual board will work with parts from many countries. It's not uncommon to have hundreds of individual parts on a printer circuit board. The PC boards may then be assembled with other PC Boards, displays, cables, keyboards and mechanical hardware, etc to make finished DVD players, TVs phones, appliances, cars, industrial equipment, etc.

So you see in a global marketplace its hard to identify the place of origin.

[cabinetman]

Many semiconductor integrated circuits (chips) - microprocessors and memories - are etched in silicon in US foundries where the high tech expertise comes into place. The chips are etched, hundred or thousands at a time upon silicon base wafers as large as 12" in diameter. The wafers are scribed and the wafers broken into individual chips. Wafers and chips also come from big factories in Europe and Taiwan. At this point they are often sent overseas... to be packaged (Philippines, Malaysia are favorites) which doesn't mean cardboard boxes or blister packs, but mounted on metal and ceramic or plastic carriers with leads or contacts and tiny wires bond from the chips to the leads, then sealed with a ceramic cap or more plastic. Then put into tubes or reels for automatic insertion machinery. THe tubes and reels are sold to printed circuit board assemblers in the US, Europe, Asia or other places where assembly of PC Boards is done. PC boards also contain resistors, capacitors, switches, and connectors made in Asia, Europe and the USA. Many manufacturers have multiple factories in different countries making the same parts, and many of the parts are generic meaning that an actual board will work with parts from many countries. It's not uncommon to have hundreds of individual parts on a printer circuit board. The PC boards may then be assembled with other PC Boards, displays, cables, keyboards and mechanical hardware, etc to make finished DVD players, TVs phones, appliances, cars, industrial equipment, etc.

So you see in a global marketplace its hard to identify the place of origin.

Pretty involved. Not unlike a lot of other products.

.

[chopnhack]

That is why it can be expensive to get SMT's and often a long lead time.... a lot of them are not made here and have to be sourced, often with min. orders!

[dkerfoot]

Thoughts on Saipan

1. I served on the USS Saipan (LHA-2). I can verify that there were no clothes being made there and no Chinese citizens. (Oddly enough, we did have one Japanese citizen who was enlisted in the US Navy that I worked with. Still not sure how that was possible)

2. The confusion arises over the Island being an unincorporated territory of the US. Somewhat similar to Puerto Rico, Guam, US Virgin Islands, etc. For legal purposes, they are indeed part of the U.S.A. (or USA)

3. In this context, Made in the USA and Made in the U.S.A. mean exactly the same thing and the island of Saipan could print either on their labels.

4. The worst offenses of importing contract labor were ended in 2009 by Bush as part of Homeland Security PL 110-229 Sect 701

5. The population has declined more than 20% due to the resulting collapse of the textile industry - Wikipedia.

6. There are only about 40,000 people there and the island is a total sh*thole, so it shouldn't be considered a serious threat to our way of life.

7. The ship USS Saipan was also a sh*thole with a population of nearly 1000 sailors and 2000 marines when deployed. it was a serious threat to my way of life. Thankfully it has since been decommissioned and you may now be shaving with it since it has been turned into scrap.


.