Discover Made in USA brands, reshoring insights, and the skilled trades powering American manufacturing. Help rebuild jobs, close the skills gap, and strengthen communities.
Beyond the Label
On a Tuesday morning in Indiana, a second-generation machine shop hums with CNC equipment, cobots, and young technicians who grew up with smartphones but now troubleshoot servo drives and program robots. In the next bay over, a boomer journeyman walks a recent high-school graduate through a setup that keeps a reshored production line running for an American brand that once sourced everything offshore. This is what the modern Made in America Movement looks like on the ground: a living ecosystem of people, skills, and communities, not just a stamp on a box.[1][2]
“Made in USA” is no longer only a legal claim about where something was assembled. It has become shorthand for quality, supply-chain resilience, and transparency at a time when consumers want to know who made their products and under what conditions. The modern Made in America Movement connects those expectations to real factories, training programs, and careers in the United States manufacturing sector.[3][4][5][1]
Crucially, this movement is not a partisan project. Surveys on buying American-made products consistently show broad support across the political spectrum, with majorities citing support for U.S. jobs and the domestic economy as their top motivations rather than party identity. The Made in America Movement (MAM) positions this energy around three non-political pillars: good jobs, modern skills, and stories that link consumers to the makers behind the label.[6][3]
Read moreIn 2012, many people hoped American manufacturing might slowly regain some of its lost ground. Today, that story is much bigger. Today’s factory jobs are part of a deep transformation driven by reshoring, artificial intelligence, robotics, new policy tools like the CHIPS and Science Act, and a rising generation choosing skilled trades over traditional paths. Manufacturing is not just “coming back.” It is being rebuilt around innovation, resilience, and higher‑skill work.
At the same time, the picture is not simple. Some plants are booming while others are cutting staff. Companies are investing billions in U.S. facilities, but the number of jobs created is smaller than in past eras, because today’s factories are more automated and more efficient. To understand the promise of today’s factory jobs, we need to look at how technology, policy, and people are changing what “Made in America” really means.
American manufacturing isn’t just about making things anymore. It’s about building careers, strengthening communities, and securing our economic future. While the challenges have evolved since 2012, one truth remains: manufacturing jobs still matter—and so does the value of the dollar.
Read moreA few months ago, while searching for a birthday gift for a friend, I thought I’d struck gold with a coffee mug stamped “Made in USA.” Imagine my embarrassment when, after some digging (and a slightly suspicious price tag), I discovered it was Made in China.
Turns out, I’m far from alone: the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is getting tough on companies faking their “Made in USA” claims, disrupting not just shoppers’ trust but the entire marketplace. Let’s dig into why this crackdown is a big deal for brands and buyers, and how you (and I) can avoid being duped again.
TL;DR: The FTC’s push for honest ‘Made in USA’ labeling means bigger consequences for cheats—and more chances for authentic American brands to shine. Seek out transparency, ask questions, and support the makers who truly keep it local. Read more
Why “Made in the USA” Still Matters
For generations, the label “Made in the USA” has stood as a symbol of quality, patriotism, and economic strength. In today’s globalized economy, the significance of American manufacturing has evolved but remains more crucial than ever. As reshoring/insourcing and buying local gain traction, consumers, businesses, and policymakers are revisiting what it means to support American-made goods.
In recent times, Kubota North America Corporation, a prominent player in the tractor and heavy equipment manufacturing industry, has been handed a hefty $2 million civil penalty by the Department of Justice. This penalty, the result of a legal wrangle involving allegations of misrepresenting the origins of replacement parts, has been dictated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
The FTC claims that Kubota has breached the Made in USA labeling rule, asserting that the company failed to amend product labels to denote the true origins of parts accurately. This instance is not the first of its kind, as it echoes a similar violation by a Kubota subsidiary in 1999.
It’s critical to note that Kubota is displaying an active commitment to resolving these issues, cooperating fully with the U.S. government and putting into place improved labeling accuracy measures. Such an unprecedented case brings into question the broader implications for other manufacturers and the enforcement of the Made in USA Labeling Rule.
Read moreThere is so much discussion these days around the MADE IN USA label. What does it take to use the label “Made in USA” and can you trust it when you see it?
This article will tell you everything you need to know.
Read moreMade in USA. Three little words with a not-so-little impact! Read more
In a world where products from every corner of the globe flood our markets, the allure of locally made items, specifically ‘Made in America,’ is experiencing a resurgence. The charm of homegrown craftsmanship, the reassurance of quality, and the boost to our economy are some compelling reasons to rekindle our love affair with products made on American soil.
This blog aims to spark a conversation on the significance of supporting local businesses and how we can make ‘Made in America’ cool again. Let’s delve into this exciting journey of rediscovering and redefining American coolness!
In the last decade, we’ve lost millions of manufacturing jobs to outsourcing. According to U.S. News and World Report, there are now 5.1 million fewer American manufacturing jobs than in 2001. The lure of low wages, tax advantages, and other cost savings has made for a seemingly straightforward calculus, and manufacturer after manufacturer, supported by intricate spreadsheets, has abandoned ship until offshoring has become the emerging mantra of the new millennium. U.S. companies that still manufacture locally have slowly become outliers.
We recently spoke with Randy Kreider, owner of Harvest Array, an online marketplace dedicated to selling Made in the USA products.
Harvest Array started as an idea. They had an idea and worked tirelessly to bring it to life, all while staying committed to a very special mission—promoting products with a country of origin of “Made in USA.”
Their business has caught the attention of many, and we are fortunate to have them as part of the MAM Family.
In this article, we will explore the tale of our newest MAM member, tracing their path from a simple idea to a thriving business that focuses on American-made products. We will uncover the challenges they encountered along the way, their strategies to overcome obstacles, and the invaluable lessons they learned throughout their entrepreneurial journey.
Prepare to be inspired by their unwavering dedication, creative problem-solving, and passion for every American-made product they offer. Through their story, we aim to instill a sense of pride in supporting products with the “Made in USA” label.
Read moreWhen I wrote the chapter on what manufacturers can do to save themselves for my first book, Can American Manufacturing be Saved? Why we should and how we can, published in 2009, one of my top recommendations was to begin the Lean journey to become a Lean manufacturer.
Read moreEver since the Leahy–Smith America Invents Act (AIA) was passed in 2011, there have been bills introduced in Congress with the purported purpose of restoring inventors’ rights and fixing some of the problems generated by that Act. None of these bills were passed by both the House and Senate, and most didn’t even get out of committee for a vote. A few of these bills would have actually made matters worse, so it was a good thing they didn’t pass.
Besides changing our patent system from a “first to invent” to a “first to file,” the “America Invents Act” also created the Patent Trial and Review Board (PTAB) which has nearly destroyed inventors’ rights. According to the U S Inventors end of the year report, “The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) has canceled claims in 84% of the 2,500+ patents reviewed since 2011 and most inventors do not have a half a million dollars necessary to fund a legal defense.”
Read moreOn November 29, 2021, the Peterson Institute for International Economics released a 110-page brief, titled “Scoring 50 Years of US Industrial Policy, 1970–2020,” which reviews “lessons learned from half a century of US industrial policy” with regard to what worked and what didn’t.
Read moreOn November 17, 2021, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission held a virtual public release of its 2021 Annual Report to Congress in Washington, DC. This report provides “a review of economics, trade, security, political, and foreign affairs developments in 2021” with a focus on the “CCP’s economic and technological ambitions, the Chinese government’s evolving control of the corporate sector, U.S.-China financial connectivity and risks to U.S. national security, China’s nuclear forces, Chinese military capabilities and decision-making for a war over Taiwan…”
Read moreAmericans already feel the effects of supply chain shortages even before the traditional holiday shopping season starts on Back Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. Ads by retailers are advising consumers to do their holiday shopping early to avoid not being able to get the items they want to give as presents. Even if you buy early, holiday shopping won’t be easy this year. Since the supply chain shortage is predicted to last well into next year, the solution is to buy less and buy American.
Read moreMajor retailers and thousands of small businesses face a bleak holiday season without Chinese goods to sell because of the long lineup of container ships from China waiting to enter major ports to offload their cargo.
It seems like Americans have to learn lessons the hard way. During the early stage of the COVID pandemic, there was a serious shortage of masks, ventilators, and other PPE equipment and supplies because we had become dependent on China for these goods. Now, American consumers are experiencing shortages in common consumer products at retail stores, and manufacturers are facing long lead times for components, ICs (chips), and other parts and assemblies. These shortages are projected to get worse before they improve sometime in 2022.
Read moreAs more and more American consumers turn to buying products online instead of in person at brick-and-mortar stores, they become increasingly vulnerable to counterfeit goods and are unable to determine where the products have been made. Country of Origin information is missing from the major online platforms so consumers are unable to fellow Americans by choosing to “Buy American” for products sold online. Without knowing Country of Origin, they are not able to boycott buying products made in China by slave labor or protest the ethnic cleansing of the Uyghurs by the Chinese government.
Read moreWhen my first book, Can American Manufacturing Be Saved? Why We Should and How We can was published in May 2009, I introduced it as a speaker at the Del Mar Electronics & Design Show in San Diego, CA and displayed it at my company’s booth. One of the persons who stopped by and bought my book was Adrian Pelkus, President of A Squared Technologies, Inc. and leader of a group called the San Diego Inventors Forum. Adrian invited me to the next meeting of the group and I accepted his invitation. Since June 2009, I have regularly attended SDIF meetings and became a board member when it was formally incorporated in 2014. Our meetings provide information that helps inventors take a product from design concept, fundraising, producing, and successfully marketing the product. I give an annual presentation titled “How to Select the Right Processes and Sources for Your Product” and we hold an annual inventors contest with cash prizes. We haven’t held in-person meetings since the COVID pandemic shutdown started in March 2020, but will start meeting again this fall.
Read moreSeptember 16, 2021 marks the 10th anniversary of the America Invents Act (AIA) at the Decade of Stolen Dreams Inventor Rally organized by US Inventor, Inc., a non-profit association of inventors devoted to protecting the intellectual property of individuals and small companies. It represents its 13,000 inventor and small business members by promoting strong intellectual property rights and a predictable U.S. patent system through education, advocacy and reform.
Read moreOn June 29, 2021, the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) released a report on the economic impact of the many bilateral, regional, and multilateral trade agreements that the U.S has signed since 1984. These include NAFTA, that went into effect in 1994, the multilateral trade deal that created the World Trade Organization in 1995, as well as bilateral trade agreements such as KORUS (Korea-U. S). It also examined the one-year-old U.S.-Canada-Mexico Agreement, which replaced the original NAFTA. However, it did not examine the effects of the agreement struck by the United States to pave the way for China to enter the WTO in 2001.
Read moreThe panels on the third day (March 25th) of the virtual CPA conference highlighted how the technology industry contributes to national security and the economy as well as how a currency policy would contribute to President Biden’s “Build Back Better” industrial strategy.
Read moreThe second day of the CPA virtual conference held March 23-27th featured two panels:
- the first on the topic of “Reforming Corporate Taxation to Help Reshore Our Industries,” and
- the second on ”Buy American.”
In the first panel, the focus was on whether or not additional tax reform is needed by Congress to make sure that tax loopholes that currently favor multinational corporations over domestic companies will be closed.
Read moreThe Coalition for a Prosperous America held its annual trade conference virtually for the first time on March 23 – 26, 2021. I had the pleasure of attending the annual trade conference in person six years in a row when it was held in Washington, D. C., but last year’s conference had to be canceled on short notice because of COVID shutdowns. This year’s virtual conference was free to all CPA members and the program ran from 11 AM – 4 PM ET each day. The conference was a huge success because of the valuable content of the sessions, lack of technical glitches, and Melissa Tallman’s hard work.
Read moreOn Sunday evening, February 14th, Curtis Ellis passed away from a long struggle with bladder cancer at the age of 67. Curtis was a true patriot and defender of liberty, who believed in all of the greatness our country and devoted much of his life to putting American first in economic policies to benefit American workers and not just Wall Street. Curtis’ career included work as a campaign manager for state and federal elections, working for Congress as a media liaison for the New York State Senate Central Staff and held a senior staff position in the U.S. House of Representatives. He had decades of experience as a journalist, producer, writer and reporter for the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Time magazine and other outlets, such as HuffPost and World Net Daily. He appeared on 60 Minutes, HBO, NBC, CNN, NPR, MSNBC, Fox Business and Fox News, as well as national and regional radio shows.
Read moreOn his very first day in office, President Biden signed an Executive Order canceling the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. Halting work on the “pipeline in South Dakota immediately eliminated 1,000 union jobs. TC Energy, the company that was developing the project, predicts that more than 10,000 jobs will be lost in 2021 due to the order.” Only a week later, he signed an Executive Order freezing new oil or natural gas leases and drilling permits on federal land. These orders put American energy independence at risk, which will hurt American manufacturers.
Read moreChina was granted Most Favored Nation status through presidential proclamation on an annual basis from 1980 – 1998. This was because the Trade Act of 1974 stated that “MFN status may not be conferred on a country with a nonmarket economy if that country maintains restrictive emigration policies” China was, and still is, a nonmarket economy and restricted emigration, but the Act allowed the president to “waive this prohibition on an annual basis if he certifies that granting MFN status would promote freedom of emigration in that country.”
According to CRS Report 98-603 for Congress, “China’s Most-Favored-Nation (MFN) Status: Congressional Consideration, 1989-1998:” After the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, there was enough opposition to granting MFN status to China that the “House passed joint resolutions disapproving MFN for China in both 1991 and 1992,” but the Senate didn’t pass the joint resolution. However, the real focus of the debate was not whether to deny MFN status for China altogether, but whether or not to “place new human rights conditions on China’s MFN eligibility.” Congress passed legislation in 1991 and 1992 that would have placed further conditions on China’s MFN status, but President Bush vetoed the legislation.
In 1993, President Clinton announced he would link China’s MFN status to human rights progress beginning in 1994. However, President Clinton reneged on his campaign promise and reversed himself: “On June 2, 1995, President Clinton transmitted to Congress his intention to waive the emigration prohibition and extend MFN status to the People’s Republic of China for an additional year, beginning July 3, 1995.”
An L.A. Times article of May 27, 1994, reported: “President Clinton, abandoning a central foreign policy principle of his Administration, announced Thursday that he has decided to “de-link” China’s privileged trading status from its human rights record. While acknowledging that China “continues to commit very serious human rights abuses,” Clinton said that he has come to believe that broader American strategic interests justify the policy reversal.”
The annual granting of MFN status to China by a presidential waiver continued through 1998. Note that “On July 22, 1998, legislation was enacted which replaced the term “most-favored-nation” in certain U.S. statutes with the term “normal trade relations.” This made it easier for Congress to make the fateful decision to extend “permanent normal trade relations,” or PNTR, to China when the Senate voted to give China permanent most-favored-nation status on September 19, 2000. This vote paved the way for China’s accession to the World Trade Organization.
As Reihan Salam, President of the Manhattan Institute wrote in an article titled
“Normalizing Trade Relations With China Was a Mistake,” in the June 8, 2018 issue of The Atlantic, “PNTR was a euphemism designed to get around the fact that the traditional term for “normal trade relations” was “most-favored-nation” (MFN) tariff status…MFN status meant imports would be treated as favorably as those arriving from “the most favored nation.” Absurd as it might sound, this linguistic convention had meaningful political consequences. To argue that we ought to have normal trade relations with China was one thing. Sure, why not? To make the case that China ought to be treated as our most favored nation was a more vexing PR challenge, not least in the wake of the brutal crackdown that followed the Tienanmen Square protests in 1989.”
An article in the American Economic Review, “The Surprisingly Swift Decline of US Manufacturing Employment,” by Justin R. Pierce and Peter K. Schott, July 7, 2016, states:
“The permanence of PNTR status made an enormous difference: Without PNTR, there was always a danger that China’s favorable access to the U.S. market would be revoked, which in turn deterred U.S. firms from increasing their reliance on Chinese suppliers. With PNTR in hand, the floodgates of investment were opened, and U.S. multinationals worked hand-in-glove with Beijing to create new China-centric supply chains.” https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.20131578
This change in U.S. trade policy that eliminated potential tariff increases on Chinese imports resulted in industries that were more vulnerable to the change experiencing greater employment loss, increased imports from China, and higher entry into the U.S. market by U.S. importers and foreign-owned Chinese exporters. My three books and the hundreds of articles I’ve written since 2009 have described what has happened to U.S. manufacturing since 2001. Besides the loss of 5.8 million manufacturing jobs and the closure of an estimated 67,000 American manufacturers, American manufacturing shifted toward more high-tech, less labor-intensive production. However, as China upgraded their technology in the past few years, we started losing our high-tech manufacturing also.
In addition to the annual reports to Congress by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission documenting China’s violation of World Trade Organization rules along with human rights violations, the U.S. Department of State submits an annual report on International Religious Freedom in accordance with the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. According to the 2018 International Religious Freedom Report :
“Multiple media and NGOs estimated the government detained at least 800,000 and up to possibly more than 2 million Uighurs, ethnic Kazakhs, and members of other Muslim groups, mostly Chinese citizens, in specially built or converted detention facilities in Xinjiang and subjected them to forced disappearance, torture, physical abuse, and prolonged detention without trial because of their religion and ethnicity since April 2017. There were reports of deaths among detainees. Authorities maintained extensive and invasive security and surveillance, in part to gain information regarding individuals’ religious adherence and practices.”
Therefore, it gave me great pleasure when I read that on September 17, 2020, Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) introduced a bill (S.4609) that “would strip China of its permanent most-favored-nation status—also known as Permanent Normal Trade Relations—a designation it has held for the last twenty years. If passed, the legislation would make extending most-favored-nation status to China an annual decision for Congress and the president.”
Cotton said, “Twenty years ago this week, the Senate gave a gift to the Chinese Communist Party by granting it permanent most-favored-nation status. That disastrous decision made the Party richer, but cost millions of American jobs. It’s time to protect American workers and take back our leverage over Beijing by withdrawing China’s permanent trade status.”
Senator Cotton’s press release states:
“The China Trade Relations Act would revoke China’s permanent most-favored-nation status and return to the pre-2001 status quo, whereby China’s MFN status must be renewed each year by presidential decision. Congress could override the president’s extension of MFN by passing a joint resolution of disapproval.
The bill also would expand the list of human-rights and trade abuses under the Jackson-Vanik Amendment that would disqualify China for MFN status, absent a presidential waiver. The abuses that would make China ineligible for MFN status, absent a presidential waiver, are as follows:
- Uses or provides for the use of slave labor;
- Operates ‘vocational training and education centers’ or other concentration camps where people are held against their will;
- Performs or otherwise orders forced abortion or sterilization procedures;
- Harvests the organs of prisoners without their consent;
- Hinders the free exercise of religion;
- Intimidates or harasses nationals of the People’s Republic of China living outside the People’s Republic of China; or
- Engages in systematic economic espionage against the United States, including theft of the intellectual property of United States persons”
China’s strategic goal is to dominate the sectors of economic growth that historically have held the key to world power: transportation energy, information, and manufacturing. Their “Made in China 2025” plan is designed to dominate key technology sectors such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, hypersonic missiles, and 5G. They also plan to become the dominant power in space by 2049.
If this bill isn’t passed in the Lame Duck session, I strongly urge that it be reintroduced into the next Congress and passed unanimously next year. It’s time China for us to stop treating China as a friend and recognize China as the enemy to our national sovereignty it is.
Over the past ten years that I have been writing blog articles, one of my reoccurring themes has been the danger posed to the U.S. by China because of their predatory mercantilism through product dumping, currency manipulation, intellectual property theft, and government subsidies. More recently, I have written about China’s written plan to become the superpower of the 21st Century through a combination of economic coercion, industrial espionage, and the buildup of their military.
Read more