Posted: 2/17/2007 6:18:24 AM EDT
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With all the news and threads recently of 'buy American this' or 'appease Mexico that', illegal drug runner getting immunity this, and border patrol agents and the country getting sold down the river that--I read something refreshing on a pair of shoes I bought. Took the wife out to dinner and a little shopping last night--she was in need of some new running shoes. We try on many pairs, different brands and settle on a pair of New Balance. I get home and look the shoes over and read the tag on the shoes--goes like this:  "Many of our shoes are produced in one of six United States factories. While most of the footwear industry has moved its production overseas to take advantage of low labor costs and generally cheaper production cost, we continue to have many of our shoes made in the United States and have expanded production substantially. Since 1995, we have increased our manufacturing jobs by 65%. We at New Balance are proud to provide jobs to the U.S. workforce, and proud of our well educated, high quality associates who can compete with anyone in the world. Through their hard work, we are able to make many of our models of shoes in the United States despite the competition from lower cost imports. Unfortunately, we are not able to obtain all materials and components that are needed for these shoes in the United States. In some cases, they are simply not available. In other situations, economic and quality considerations dictate foreign sourcing. However, New Balance remains committed to providing jobs for American workers and to support domestic manufacturers and suppliers where possible. The Federal Trade Commission has attempted to determine what it means to say a product is "made in" the United States. While this seems like a simple question, the answer is not always obvious given the global nature of the economy. We beleive most consumers think "Made in USA" means that real manufacturing jobs were provided to U.S. workers in order to make that product. The shoes produced in our U.S. factories are made by U.S. workers using both U.S. and imported materials. Where the level of domestic value is at least 70%, we have labeled the shoe "Made in USA." Where it falls below that level, we have qualified it as containing both domestic and imported materials. This determination is based in part on a survey of consumers conducted by the FTC. The Federal Trade Commission's analysis of the Made in USA issue can be found on the internet at FTC's web site..." RED= their highlights Just thought I'd share. |
