Is anything NOT made in China anymore?

[Squatch]

So, my wife and I are out and about looking for a couple toys to buy our son for Christmas. One rule that we adopted this year for health and economic concerns (that is to say, US economy issues) is that we only buy toys and other Christmas stuff that is made in the USA.

You just can't do it. Damn near everything is made in China.

So, we had to bend our rule a little bit and decided to buy only items made in either the USA (which we now knew were non-existent) or Europe. In the end, we bought him some more Legos.

[Sanity Claws]

1. Same is true for clothing

Almost all sweaters I looked at were made in China, same for other knit goods.

[Squatch]

2. At least one of my military uniform items are made in China.

Isn't that some horribly funny shit? My fleece jacket that I wear over my ACU (Army uniform) is made in China.

[NewJeffCT]

24. right after 9/11

The company i worked for at the time handed out little American flags to each employee. Right where the flag met the flagpole was the label "Made in China"

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. You didn't look in the right place

Made in the Arkansas Ozarks, and darned good toys, too:

http://www.spencerwoodentoys.com

[Warren Stupidity]

4. My vanilla latte. nt.

[sam sarrha]

5. better check the ingredients...

[Warren Stupidity]

8. Still it is "made" in the good old USA.

I am fairly sure of that.

[sam sarrha]

26. most usa yogert, 'organic'.. has stuff in it from china and 10 toher countries

[BobRossi]

6. My kids.

Made right here in the good ol' USA.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

7. me, i was made in india. nt

[La Lioness Priyanka]

9. here is my question: i can understand buying from you own country but why make the exception for

europe?

[Squatch]

10. Because they don't include Pb as an ingredient in their toys

:shrug:

[La Lioness Priyanka]

12. maybe another way of asking my question is? are toys only made in china/us or europe?

[Squatch]

18. Nah. I like the way I asked it.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

21. i was rephrasing my question, not yours. nt

[Squatch]

22. Oops. Sorry.

[RB TexLa]

11. So you only concern yourself with the US economy? No concern at all about the world economy?

Do you have the "these colors don't run" bumper sticker?

[REP]

16. I think the concern is over lead-tainted toys

Wanting to avoid lead is not being overly nationalistic. In fact, it's possible to avoid buying many Chinese-made products because of concern for the working/living conditions of the people who made those things.

[Squatch]

20. Yes, those are two of my concerns with buying Chinese-made toys

[Elwood P Dowd]

27. RG is a huge supporter of imports, outsourcing, and fake free trade deals

pushed by the republicans. He is a huge supporter of NAFTA, CAFTA, GATT, and even the corporate controlled WTO. Read his posts here over the past several years.

[Squatch]

17. When China comes calling on that $1Trillion in US debt it holds

I think you'll be concerned with the US economy, as well.

And, for about the past 100 years, the "world economy" has, part and parcel, followed the performance of the US economy. Downturns here are followed closely by downturns across the globe.

[REP]

13. Slinky! Still made in the US

I don't have kids and don't know any, but Target had Slinky Jrs for $1 each so I bought a bunch of them to hand out. They're made in the US and everyone loves Slinky!

[izzie]

14. Well we make alot of guns in NH and in Maine

Does that count? We still have mills running in Sanford Maine but I for got what they make any more. I am sure it is not Palm Beach cloth.

[Squatch]

19. Funny you should mention that.

I just bought a gun made (partially) in NH. But, that's a "me" toy and not appropriate for my 2 1/2 year old son.

[polichick]

15. Small specialized companies online seem to be the best bet...

Just to see if we could find anything from the U.S. my husband and I went into a new upscale gift shop that opened near us ~ a large place with gifts for kids and teens right up to grandparents. What we found was that, from earrings to slippers to coffee mugs that plug into car lighters, every single item came from China. I'll stick to local craftspeople and online shops for gifts this year.

About the only shop in our downtown area that's making big bucks this season is a toy store that specializes in U.S. and European toys ~ it's the shopkeeper's first year and the timing couldn't have been better, though she only opened because she likes toys and loves to travel looking for well-made ones. This is a great business idea for towns all over the country!

[NewJeffCT]

23. European toys actually have a higher recall rate than Chinese toys

approximately 80% of toys sold in the US are made in China, and Chinese made toys are about 80% of toys recalled in the past several years.

10% are made in the US and they are subjected to less than 10% of the recalls.

However, toys made in Europe and elsewhere and are responsible for over 10% of the recalls, but less than 10% of all sales.

[catmandu57]

25. We make some damn fine cruise missles

and other hardware, as for toys maybe some wood blocks.

[allalone]

28. I have some pajamas that were made in Pakistan