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There’s Only One American Coffeemaker – Bunn
There are many areas where it
is increasingly difficult to buy American, and one of those areas is the
category of small appliances. My Toastmaster toaster oven, Proctor-Silex
toaster and Rival crock-pot, for instance, are made in USA, but it seems
these companies have moved their production of these items offshore.
I’m not a coffee drinker, but
if I was, I would definitely buy a Bunn coffeemaker. Bunn is an American
company based in Springfield, Illinois, and all Bunn coffeemakers are
assembled in the USA. Every other brand of coffee maker you could name makes
their products overseas – usually in China.
Admittedly, “Assembled in USA”
is not as good as “Made in USA,” but since Bunn is the only game in town, it
makes sense to support them over the competition. “Made in USA” means that
either “all or virtually all” parts and labor for a given product must be
American (the unwritten percentage rule is 98%). “Assembled in USA” means
that a product is comprised of foreign and domestic components, but the
final assembly is done in this country by American workers.
Back in 1997, the Federal
Trade Commission proposed changes to what it means to label a product “Made
in USA,” and they proposed to change the unwritten rule of 98% American
parts and labor to 75%, citing “global economic trends.” This would have
meant that the “all or virtually all” standard would have been wiped off the
books, and a company would now be able to get away with up to 25% foreign
parts and labor and still label their product “Made in USA.”
Many organizations from labor
unions, consumer advocacy groups and even the United States Congress rallied
against the proposal as the Federal Trade Commission allowed public comments
from all sides on the matter. You can view my official comment to the FTC on
June 6, 1997 here:
http://www.ftc.gov/opp/madeusa2/c150.htm.
Fortunately, there was enough of a public outcry and the proposal was
canned.
If Bunn is using American
workers to both produce and assemble their products, it makes sense to
channel our dollars to support those American workers since they command
higher wages and other factors of American production absent in other
countries like unemployment compensation, pensions, vacation, sick leave,
and other benefits. We are not just supporting higher wages and therefore a
higher standard of living in this country. We are supporting the foundation
and infrastructure in this country to pay for the things that “We, the
People” have demanded from our government. Only American workers pay taxes
to America. The foreign producer, as President William McKinley once put it
in, “…contributes nothing to the support, the progress, and the glory of the
nation.”
Many times, buying American
does not cost more, but you might expect to pay a little more for the made
in USA product in this case. You’ll also have the peace of mind knowing that
as you stay up late drinking coffee and wrapping all those Christmas
presents for your loved ones nearby, you’ll be enabling American workers
elsewhere to earn the paychecks necessary to make a nice Christmas for their
loved ones, too. Especially at this time of year, knowing that is enough to
make spending a few extra dollars worth it.
Roger Simmermaker, Author
How Americans Can Buy American
www.howtobuyamerican.com
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