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Some Clarity on an Extremely Confusing Topic

Posted by Charles Hansen (M) on November 27, 2017 at 12:09:56

In Reply to: Made in ___? posted by chocolate_lover9999@yahoo.com on November 21, 2017 at 13:35:22:

Hello Chocolate Lover,

You ask a great (and seemingly straight-forward) question. Unfortunately the actual answer is absurdly complex. The first problem is that the Federal Trade Commission has only created two definitions for labeling things as far as the US being the country of origin, while there are actually many dozens of real-life scenarios:

1) "Made in USA" - This is an extremely strict standard. Not only must all labor and assembly come from the USA, but also *"all components essential for the operation of the unit"*. As will become clear later, it is virtually impossible for *any* electronic product to meet this standard.

2) "Assembled in the USA of Domestic and Foreign Components" - This is so vague as to be virtually meaningless, and it also does little to inspire confidence in the customer.

Following is one real-life example. Ayre makes every attempt possible to use only US-sourced parts and labor (for reasons to be explained shortly):

- Chassis: Made in California and Colorado, including anodizing and silkscreening.
- Transformers: Made in California and Jamaica ("American" under NAFTA).
- PCBs: Made in Colorado, using USA materials.
- PCB Assembly: Made in Colorado.
- Final Assembly: Made in Colorado.
- Resistors: Made in USA, Germany, and Israel.
- Capacitors: Made in USA (Rel-Cap and Cornell-Dubilier), Germany (Wima), and Japan (Nichicon and Rubycon).
- Semiconductors: USA (Analog Devices, Burr-Brown, ESS, On-Semi, Xilinx), Japanese (Toshiba), and European (NXP) companies, foundries are world-wide.

As almost every Ayre product uses either German resistors or German or Japanese transistors (both of which are "essential for the function of the product"), it would be illegal to label these products as "Made in USA". The only other label they would meet would be "Assembled in the USA of Domestic and Foreign Components" - but so would something completely made in a Chinese sweat-shop using child slave labor, leaving one screw out to be installed in the USA.

Both options suck, and both options are equally uninformative.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The second questions is "What do I care where something is made, anyway?" The answer boils down to what is important to you (ie, what do you value, or more simply, "your values"). Because the closer one looks at this issue, the deeper the ramifications - nearly to infinity. I'll touch on the surface of a couple:

1) Service and support - unless the company is large enough to provide international sales and service at a regional level (eg, Toyota, VW, Sony, et cetera), a domestic manufacturer is generally in a better position to provide service and support. They will speak the same language, be in roughly the same time zone, be able to ship within a few days, and so forth.

2) Health and safety of the workers. Unlike North America and Europe, many countries in the Far East do not have equivalents of either OSHA or the EPA. It is not uncommon to find child laborers working 14-hour days, inhaling carcinogeneric solvents, with the waste poured down the drain or in a field at the end of the day.

The bottom line is that there are hidden costs that must be paid by someone. It only makes sense to me that the hidden costs should be borne by those who incur them. YMMV - likely depending on your values. Hope this helps.

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

The Cable Cooker

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