RJ wrote:

"MADE IN USA" is becoming a collectors item.

D Peter Maus wrote:

Yeah...Ask BMW, Daimler-Benz, Hyundai, Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Mazda,
and Mitsubishi.

Billy Burpelson wrote:

Not quite right, DP. The products you mention above are mostly
ASSEMBLED in America. Typically, the higher tech, higher 'cost of
assembly' items (engines, trannies) are made in their home country.

Oh, don't forget that the profit from your items above flow right to
Germany, Korea and Japan, not here. They only built a few plants here
because they had to -- for political reasons, a sop* to the gullible.

* From the Merriam-Webster dictionary:

sop: a conciliatory or propitiatory bribe, gift, or gesture

D Peter Maus wrote:

So, the billions spent by Hyundai, alone, to build in
Tennessee...that's just a bribe. The millions in payroll...that's just a
bribe?

I would say more "gesture" -- at least that's how the first, early
plants started out, as gestures. And Hyundai is a special example --
trying to kick the Japanese butts and get a toe hold here.

The Asian manufacturers currently enjoy a moratorium on taxes, and the
wages and benefits parity that Union contracts seek, so building in this
country is just good, cost effective business.

They build here because it's less costly to build here.

HUH????

Do the *thousands* of businesses that have moved their manufacturing to
India/Haiti/Mexico/China do so because it's -less- costly here in the
USA? I don't think so. USA wages are ~ $15-$25/hour, usually with
benefits and environmental laws, while China/India are ~ $0.50- $1/hour
with -no- benefits and virtually no environmental laws...and you say
it's -less costly- to manufacture in the USA? Pardon me for not
believing that.

But the topic was "Made in the USA." And these companies DO build in
the USA.

But with the profits NOT going to the USA.

"Made In The USA" is far from extinction.

To shift away from the automotive world for a moment, consider Wal-Mart,
a 'general purpose' retailer, selling all kinds of merchandise,
everything from A to Z, a -broad- spectrum of consumer products. Even 2
or 3 years ago, it was widely acknowledged that 85 (that's
EIGHTY-FIVE!) percent of the merchandise on their shelves was "Made in
China", not the USA. Quite odd if it's less costly to build here, don't
you think?

While you're at it, please explain away the THOUSANDS of companies that
have moved their manufacturing overseas and please explain it to the
*MILLIONS* of American workers that have been "down-sized"
and "right-sized" out of their well-paying American jobs... and please
try to be understanding if they don't believe you.

"Made In The USA" may not be quite extinct, but it's fading very, very fast.

"Outsourcing is GOOD for this country" -- George W. Bush, addressing
the nation.