How many times have you gone furniture shopping and came across ones with labels written ‘made in USA’? They are rare to come across. Right? Most of them are made in Mexico, or China, or Taiwan.
This wasn’t the case always. Several years ago, products of American origin dominated store shelves. However, things took a different course in the late 90’s as the American manufacturing industry began to decline. They opted to relocate to other countries such as China and Mexico where they could find cheaper labor force.

However, in the recent years there has been a new dawn for the American manufacturing industry, thanks to the Reshoring Initiative (a non-profit organization). They have brought America back to their place in the charts of manufacturing. It is reported that since 2010, over 300 companies have relocated back to the USA, creating close to 240,000 job opportunities.

Why you should buy American-made Furniture

Consumer reports from a research conducted in 2015 revealed that 80% of Americans would prefer goods manufactured in the USA. In fact, 60% of them would even pay 10% more for these goods.
Reasons why shoppers would prefer goods of American origin

• To help build America. Shoppers know that the more they support local industries, the more they create job opportunities. The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) through a report issued in 2015 revealed that America’s job pool declined between 1998 and 2013, with 5.7 million jobs being lost. This is because of competition from China and Mexico as well as the Great Recession.
• Imported products have a higher carbon footprint than those from the USA. Basically, they have to be shipped across the oceans, and in the process, they release a whole lot of greenhouse gases along the way.
• Goods produced in America bring less pollution to the environment. Factories abroad produce goods with an alarming amount of dangerous chemicals. This is not good for air, water and soils.
• Key to a more strong economy. Promoting local industries by buying their products has a major economic implication. It not only creates employment in the manufacturing industries, but also in other sectors. For instance, when these industries prosper, they are going to need accountants to handle their money, energy suppliers, and construction firms for more buildings. This amounts to approximately 1.4 million jobs outside the manufacturing sector.
• Health issues. Some of these goods imported from overseas have negative effects on health. For instance, in 2007, some toys from China were rendered unsafe as they contained lead paint and kerosene.
• Lack of proper spelled out laws to protect human rights in overseas countries. Besides having no solid environmental regulations, these countries don’t adequately protect their workers. In 2015, the Institute of Global Labor reported that Chinese workers who produced American brand toys worked under pathetic conditions. They worked for long periods of time (for 12 to 13 hours) a day and slept in dirty crowded dormitories with no decent beds. Also, in 2006, there was a case of child labor in one of the factories in Bangladesh, that produced Wal-Mart and JCPenny clothes, and in 2013 another factory collapsed after killing 1000 employees.