Every time you make a purchase you are casting a vote. Your dollars support the type of products and companies you want to endorse.
When you buy foreign-made products you may not be entirely certain of what you are endorsing. American-made products uphold some of the world’s most stringent environmental and labor laws, ensuring that workers and the environment are taken into consideration with every item that receives the Made in the USA label. Goods manufactured in China or India do not uphold such rigorous standards, often disregarding the impact their products have on their underpaid laborers or the environment.
Supporting the national economy extends far beyond patriotism – buying clothes made in the U.S. is the “green” alternative as well.
Domestically made products reduce carbon emissions from transportation, reduce the risk of toxic goods from third world countries and reduce the tide of imports currently flooding the U.S. Take into consideration the distance one article of clothing has to travel in order to find its way into your closet. As the textile industries in North Carolina and South Carolina are annually decimated by cheap imports, most clothing companies get their textiles from countries in the South Pacific. After purchasing the fabric it is then shipped to an entirely different country for assembly before finally being shipped to the U.S. All in all one article of clothing likely travels tens of thousands of miles before making it into American stores, leaving a devastatingly large carbon footprint. While these foreign produced items may be cheaper, they come at the cost of increased pollution in developing nations.
Putting your money back into the American economy saves jobs in the U.S. and expands the horizon for future American-made goods.
Currently China accounts for 30 percent of world apparel exports, according to the UN Commodity Trade Statistics Database, and America is home to one of China’s largest markets. Each year Americans purchase approximately 1 billion garments made in China, meaning China produces four pieces of clothing for every U.S. citizen.
Purchasing domestically-made products bolsters the economy and widens the platform for American-made designers. Consistently buying imported goods will further deplete the selection of American-made goods. The more products Americans purchase that are made in the U.S., the more products will become available.
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