买“美国制造”真的，真的很难！

By the way, I felt to so oxymoron to me to read a piece of news about hard or easy to buy Made-in-America. I buy things in weekly basis. I do know how it is, without reading information from news agencies.

Prof. M forwarded me this news report. But I cannot read it if don’t trial-subscribe Apple Plus News and WSJ. It is really, really hard to me. So my trial has been not to read it, though the news are Made-in-America, So I chose to read from news of other free sources. Some Made-in-China, officially as I saw in People’s Daily headquarters, the news center there is named as The Kitchen. So I read News Cooked-in-China. I can figure out from Chinese’s counter-argument or agreement to US’. It is really, really not hard at all, because I understand Chinese language, and I can use some my own thinking.

But I got the point from the title of the report. Buying Made-in-America is really hard. I am with them, my fellow American consumers. Still, aside from the subject, quitting an addiction of buying too many things, is really hard, too.
But I think one shall give a try. I understand consumers have the right, but let’s not abuse it. I’d rather try to convince people to consume less in this resource-limit world, to save the earth’s resource, and to save our living environment.

Since it is a serious issue now, escalated by the nation’s administration with its reciprocal-tariff war fighting back to the whole world who insists export US with 0-duty. And my dear friend concerned about it. I am calculating now: what is my necessity of buying supplies, can those be Made-in-America?
Immediately I looked around at all things surrounded me in my home: My computers and TV sets, till their needed upgrade, would be in 3 years. These two items are means of my work and hobby, and my life. Cellphone, yes, but I am interested in expensive upgrades, because I also need to spend time to adapt new features which I don’t want to grow depend on them. We have needed apparatus, tools, kitchenware, furniture, appliances, all available already at home. They were accumulatively acquired through past 30 to 5 years, functional very well. Just like my other car, a Subaru 1999 limited edition Legacy Outback, still gives me no reason to get rid of it. We have a brand new Nissan truck, lease and upgrade every 3 years, just for the sick following everyone to own a new vehicle. For occasional small household repairing, we buy tools and hardware from Home Depot. While there a lot are Made-in-China. We already get used to Home Depot who’s constantly raising prices of these anyway. Hard, expensive but so easily available.

But for the food and grocery! Chinese already owned the largest meat process factory in US, so the bacon, etc. is all Made-in-America. But my wife argued me that we’d quit easing bacon for health… In General, our daily consume of food and groceries are divided roughly 4 parts from only nearby stores:
1/4 from Trader Joe’s, which is mostly an import store. But already for a long time none of products are from China. There are Chinese foods but Made-in-America. Joe’s is relatively more expensive, but foods are fresh with higher quality from local, and people are friendly there. Special items are shipped from far away countries, which is worth to buy. Its inventory is small, but we don’t need much.
1/4 from a huge discount food chain called WinCo, which handles imported vegetable and fruit from Mexico, too. But a lot Made-in-America under its own brand, just like CostCo, I think some of them are made overseas for lower cost, but there are original brands form North America side-by-side on shelves, close enough Mede-in-America? The foods are in large quantity, a lot of daily customers, so they are inexpensive and fresh.
1/4 from CostCo, for what we’d like to buy many are Made-in-America. Interestingly, China provides package materials all the way shipped to here. I saw some factories in China just use out papers to cut and print foldable cardboard for huge quantities exporting to American manufactures. I think US wanted to import them, as the industry used up natural materials and pollute atmosphere. Apparently, CostCo and Sam’s Club sells American goods and US-standard foods in China, are really, really easy seller’s market over there, and really, really hard for Chinese domestic shops to compete.
1/4 from Chinese supermarkets, 99 and 168. They are mostly Made-in-California. A lot of bottled condiments there are imported from Hong Kong, Japan, Asia. Can I enjoy food without them? Hardly. A scary fact is: a lot of their packages are printed warnings for containing harmful element of lead. For our age it is OK. But we thing young people need to worry about the reproduction issue those labels warned.
Other than daily supplies, occasionally we buy from department stores and factory outlets. My wife loves discounts so we go to them during shopping seasons or national holidays. Their goods are not Made-in-America at all. But designed in America. I think it also deserve some proud of. I have seen department stores phased out from Made-in-China supplies long ago. Other countries have taken over. Made in India and Vietnam or Mexico are fine to us. They meet US acceptance specs. Can we live without department stores? We’d like to go shopping to physical stores.
But we don’t need anything from Wal-Mart, which said 70% they sell are Made-in-America. They reported huge profit but just announced to raise price otherwise the shelves will be empty, due to the added tariff. A strange store, powerful but least meaningful one which me never figured out how it is necessary to people’s everyday lives. They should be somehow punished, as they killed and replaced all the midwest local small retail operators. I considered it is something ruthless as anti-community.
Internet shopping: we don’t use Amazon much, not a Prime member. it is convenient to get things that we cannot find in local stores. We tried Temu, but twice ripped off by not mastering its complicated instant reward scheme, ended up got a bed deals with needless other things. We gave it up.

Consumers, I am not sure if that is a meaning of life which should represent what people are (like citizen or residents?). Being a foreign-import consumer is not so necessarily a subject to identify, of our lives. If goes this way or other for who made goods, we are not facing the end of the world or change our future.

The reason I am not affected by this “consumer frenzy”: I can only admit that I am not in the crowd of WSJ readers, who make up the mainstream society and system here in US. I am not sure how many of US residents are in the mainstream either, or just tag alone trying to fit in it through our whole lives. For me, I am in it organically, but being there is not intentionally enthusiastic or reluctant. We take what we get, that is my way an individual to the crowd. I further not counting on the state to govern my living materials. I cannot control, neither much to complain about the rules of distribution materials in the society, until meet a threshold of my lifeline. If the better, the nicer.