What Does "Buy American" Mean?

At the All Roads Lead to China Blog, Richard Brubaker writes:

Before I pass final judgement though, I think it is important to know more about what “buy American” means.  After all, it is not as simple as it was in the 1980’s when “Buy American, it could be your job” was the mantra of American industry’s response to Japanese imports.  Now, American products are made all over the world, and while you will find “Made in China” labels on many items, the reality is not as simple as advertised - a point I made in my post nearly 2 years ago Are Trade Stats the Best Measure of Success?:

How are American products manufactured in China, and sold in China, being fully considered by politicians, economists, and writers? After all, Motorola, Dell, Nike, GE, Corning, GM, McDonalds and several thousand other manufacturers are successfully selling billions of dollars worth of mobile phones, chemicals, computers, food products, etc manufactured in China to Chinese buyers…

At the core of my inquiry is that according to traditional statistics, American branded products produced by American companies in China are NOT being considered American… and thus in my mind, this is where the disconnect lies.

Comments

[Chris]

Of all of the blogs I have read on the subject of buy american, this seems to be the most on the nose opinion I've seen.

It makes much more sense than I think anyone if willing to admit, and you shed the light on it that needs to be shed as far as how convoluted we have become under he flag of BUY AMERICAN OR YOUR A BAD PERSON! When we don't factor in all of the goods we export that sell very well over seas.

There is a ton of info about this same thing at one of my favorite blog spots www.AmericanBoom.com/blog, check it out