1. We are too globally synergized to go back to the old protectionism way. Food is about the only thing we can still find relatively easily that’s still made in USA. Think Harley Davidson is all USA? I’d bet you that there’s got a be some kind of foam, chrome, steel, plastic or other parts that are from China. The fact is, most American products and services are no longer purely made in USA.
2. If buying American means spending more money and more time (time=money) find these items, who’s going to compensate us? Would our employers give us a raise for buying American? Would our gov’t give us a tax break for it? Money that could’ve been saved to go to vacation, buy a nicer car or send kids to college are now been tapped into just to buy American. How would that benefit Disney World, Chevy or SDSU?
3. I remember buying my 1997 Honda Civic EX (made in Ohio) for $13,500 and selling it in 2004 for $7,000. Had I bought a similarly-priced/equipped Ford Focus, Dodge Neon or Chevy Cavalier, I would not even been able to get $5,000. So for some of the posters that argued what’s wrong with buying American-branded car (that could be made in Mexico or Canada), what’s wrong is that you’ll get less than 50% of the original value in less than 5 year, whereas at least my Honda kept more than 50% even after nearly 7 years. It might be nothing but perception nowadays that give Honda and Toyota superior resale value over the Big Three but whose fault is that?
The problems with American trade imbalances are too deep and too complicated for us casual bloggers to fully comprehend, and certainly not something that a “don’t buy Chinese” internet campaign can fix.
