Manufacturers Embracing the American-Made Movement

The U.S. is experiencing a manufacturing resurgence; therefore, more manufacturers are producing, using and exporting “Made in U.S.A.” goods.

Producing American-made goods. 
Automobile manufacturers are some of the nation’s largest manufacturers supporting the American-made movement.  The vehicles at the top of the2014 Kogod Made in America list are:

• Ford F-series
• Chevrolet Corvette
• Buick Enclave
• Chevrolet Traverse
• GMC Acadia
• GMC Acadia Denali

The Kogod Made in America Auto Index compiles data from the following factors: where the automaker’s global headquarters is located, where the car is assembled, location of engine and transmission production, and location of body, interior, chassis and electrical production. Likewise, the index provides American consumers an explanation of origin of a vehicle and its purchasing impact on the U.S. economy.

Using American-made goods.
The owners of Michelangelo Homes challenged themselves to build a home entirely from products made in the U.S. They owners almost reached their goal by building a home with 95 percent “Made in the U.S.A.”  products.  According to Rob Woods, Michelangelo vice president, “It was a nice challenge, and it’s good to know that maybe with our effort we created a few jobs or maybe even more than a few.”

Michelangelo Homes got their idea from Andrews Lewendal Construction. In May 2012, Andrews Lewendal Construction built a 100 percent all American made home.  According to Lewendal, if U.S. builders bought approximately 5 percent more of U.S. made materials, 220,000 more U.S. jobs would be created.

Ultimately, buying American-made products has a huge impact on the economic growth of the U.S, because every $1 spent on manufacturing activity returns $1.48 to the economy.

Exporting American-made goods. 
President Obama said the U.S. is selling more American-made products to other countries than ever before. For example, in 2013 the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that the trade deficit dropped nearly $10 billion between May and June.

Furthermore, U.S. ports are loaded with containers filled with everything from U.S. origin. For example, 84 Lumber Company, located in Pennsylvania, ships building materials to Mongolia.  Mongolia experiences cold weather and lacks effective home insulation, which is solved by 84 Lumber Company. Consequently, the company earned approximately $2.2 billion in revenue last year and international sales accounted for approximately 1 percent of revenue. Additionally, Tennessee’s Kerney’s glass business exports patterned glass for churches and homes in South American and Europe, and a Florida porcelain lighting manufacturer Barn Light is seeing increased overseas sales.

Export growth is only the beginning for U.S. manufacturing as companies expand sights on more international markets.  Other countries appreciate American-made goods, and according to Mark Reginelli, director of world trade for the 84 Lumber Company, “After using the least expensive product, they’re saying we need a higher quality product.”

Read more: Take a look at U.S. manufacturing’s history and the resurgence of domestic manufacturing in our recent blog post, Remaking the American Dream.