“Made in the USA” sounds like a simple claim, right? But it’s a little more tricky that you might think. According to the Federal Trade Commission, “Made in USA” means that ”all or virtually all” the product has been made in America. Again, doesn’t that sound simple?
Let’s look at the example of a promotional pen. What is it made of? Plastics, some metal, ink. Let’s say the plastic parts are made and metal is formed in United States’ factories. The ink is brewed up here, too. But both the plastics and the inks could be composed of petroleum that was drilled from overseas. So it is still made in the USA?
This is always tricky, especially for people like me that are retailers. We’re totally dependent on our supply chains to provide us with accurate sourcing info to pass on to our customers. Not only that, in some cases, particularly for goods such as T-shirts, the country of origin could change with each batch.
As a company who is looking to support our American workers, we work with only those suppliers that can assure us of Made in the USA status. And we ask! We were just in the process of building our holiday shopping site (click here for a sneak peek!) that only features products that are made in the USA. It got really tricky when it comes down to the details such as bows and decorations. In some cases, the box, treat inside, and other packaging was American made, but the bow was not. For some groups, that’s enough to be called “made in USA” because it technically passes the “virtually all” test. But for other groups who are sensitive to these issues, a product like that must be rejected.
Here are some guidelines to follow if your organization is sensitive to domestic sourcing issues:
- Ditch the Decorations. Because people don’t usually want to pay lots of money for packaging decorations that could be trashed immediately upon opening, the tendency is to source bows and artificial floral items globally for least cost. If that might disturb your clients or membership, go with a product that does not include or require it to be presentation ready. For example, Made in USA wooden gift crates with treats are a great alternative.
- Buy from Retailers Who Identify Country of Origin. Most retailers, particularly in the promotional products arena, rarely identify country of origin. Don’t guess! Seek out sources that make it clear if it’s important to your group. From our research of a major promotional industry database, we found only about 10% of available products are sourced domestically.
Stay tuned for the official relaunch of our GiftsImprinted.com site for the 2011 holiday shopping season. This year we’ll be featuring Made in USA gifts exclusively.
Product Info
- Promotional products made in the USA, with many union made options, at USAandUnionMadePromoShop.com
- Made in USA holiday gifts from GiftsImprinted.com
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- Promotional Gift Ideas – Treats in Wood Crate are 2-in-1 Gift (video)
- Fair Trade Promotional Products – Do they Exist?
Tags: American made promotional products, GiftsImprinted.com, Made in the USA promotional products, Made in USA promotional products, USA Made Promotional Products, USAandUnionMadePromoShop.com
Leave A Reply (2 comments So Far)
Josiah
325 days ago
Good post! It can be tough to find competitive prices on Made in USA – sometimes, for drinkware for instance, it is cheaper to make plastic here, ship to China, make bottles in China, and then ship back. Look forward to your new site!
Heidi Thorne
324 days ago
You described the scenario perfectly, Josiah. The same issue comes up for T-shirts. Sad, but true.
It really depends on how committed the client is to their Made in USA values. If they are, they’re going to be less price sensitive. For others where it’s not that important, or if they are global companies themselves, they have more options in terms of product and price.
Thanks for taking the time to join the conversation!