American Made Good Works

We recently discovered that our son had no idea that television stations used to sign off nightly after the playing of the National Anthem. In a few decades, so many everyday activities have become obsolete. I am guilty of trying to hold on to traditions that are as American as apple pie: We still collect our spare change and manually roll our coins in those old paper wrappers provided by the bank. We still have a house phone (even though we have moved X times in Y years). And we still subscribe to magazines that are delivered to our house, and not simply received electronically.

One of those magazines that we still read is Consumer Reports (CR). The July 2015 edition focuses on Made in America: WHAT it means, WHEN it matters, & WHY everything you thought you knew is changing. As an advocate for American manufacturing, I was pleasantly surprised to read CR’s survey results asking: Why We Buy “Made in the USA”:

To keep manufacturing jobs at home (88%)

To help the U.S. economy (87%)

To keep America strong in the global economy (84%)

To be patriotic (62%)

(http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2015/07/index.htm).

I am sure that you have seen the labels and banners that state “Made in America,” but what does that actually mean? The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) defines the standard for unqualified “Made in America” claims as the following:  All or virtually all" means that all significant parts and processing that go into the product must be of U.S. origin. That is, the product should contain no — or negligible — foreign content. Additionally, the standard for “Assembled in America” is clarified by this statement:  A product that includes foreign components may be called "Assembled in USA" without qualification when its principal assembly takes place in the U.S. and the assembly is substantial. For the "assembly" claim to be valid, the product’s last "substantial transformation" also should have occurred in the U.S.  Thus the Toyota Tundra, exclusively assembled in Texas, is truly American made! To read more about complying with the Made in American standard, go to https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/complying-made-usa-standard#basic

You may have noticed that I italicized to keep manufacturing jobs at home in the survey results mentioned above. From my own experience working in manufacturing, having to justify offshoring a couple of decades ago and reshoring now, I would add to bring American manufacturing jobs back to that list. A lot of functional jobs/talent needed in the entire product life cycle, prior to manufacturing and assembly, has been lost. The Made in America Movement addresses this concern. The founder, Margarita Mendoza, has a passion about seeing more jobs come back to America. She chose to create a movement so that individuals can get involved and use their voices and buying power to create change. - See more at: http://www.themadeinamericamovement.com/about-us/

Made in America products seem to be on the increase, at least I notice more products marketed as such. Have you changed your buying habits to purchase products “Made in the US,” and if so, why? If not, what would you require manufacturers to do for you to select American products over foreign manufactured products? Feel free to comment or send me an email to latanyua.robinson@gmail.com. If you like this post and want to catch up on some of my previous discussions, please visit the full Purposed Work blog at http://ltr-latrobe-mfg.blogspot.com/.

Trading Good Works

Thus you shall live with us, and the land shall be open before you;

live and trade in it and acquire property in it –

(Genesis 34:10)

A suggested strategy for growing a small business is to increase the sell of products made here in the U.S. to foreign customers. By definition, an export is an international trade where goods produced in one country are shipped to another country for future sale or trade. For manufacturers, the transaction is beneficial to the producing country by adding to the nation’s gross output. Becoming an exporter is a good idea, but the activity involves a lot of risks.

One agency that may be able to provide guidance and services in reducing those risks for American manufacturers is the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EX-IM Bank). Founded in 1934, the mission of the bank is to create and sustain U.S. jobs by financing sales of U.S. exports to international buyers. EX-IM Bank helps businesses by providing services such as:

• Protection against buyer non-payment
• Getting financing
• Selling to foreign customers on credit terms
• Borrowing against export-related assets
• Issuing performance and bid-bonds
• Financing a foreign buyer’s purchase

To learn more about these solutions, visit http://www.exim.gov/what-we-do

Like many government programs, there is a current debate on whether or not to reauthorize. The bank’s charter is set to expire on June 30^th. Supported by the National Association of Manufacturers, there is an urgent social media campaign to inform the public of the good works that EX-IM Bank is doing in supporting the American economy. During 2014, about 90% of the bank’s transactions benefited small businesses in the global supply chains of large manufacturers like Boeing, GE, and Caterpillar (http://www.nam.org/Issues/The-Ex-Im-Bank/). In job numbers, that represents about 164,000 export-related jobs in the United States.

EX-IM bank has benefited small businesses across the country. A local success story is BCH Trading, headquartered in Hot Springs. An exporter of southern, yellow pine lumber, by taking advantage of the bank’s working capital guarantees, this $10M business indirectly supports over 50 sawmill-related jobs http://www.exim.gov/about/success-stories/ex-im-bank-supported-loan-helps-arkansas-firm-sell-wood-overseas.

Trading and exporting are proven strategies for growing businesses. American manufacturers benefit because the jobs stay here even though the products are traded or sold globally. I am asking that anyone who supports job creators to take action by calling their representative at 202-224-3121 and urging Congress to reauthorize the charter for EX-IM Bank. What are your thoughts on EX-IM Bank or other trade discussions?  Feel free to comment or send me an email to latanyua.robinson@gmail.com. If you like this post and want to catch up on some of my previous discussions, please visit the full Purposed Work blog at http://ltr-latrobe-mfg.blogspot.com/.