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Questions and Answers
About Buying American
Why should I support American owned companies?
American owned companies pay 3 times the taxes to our government than do comparable foreign owned firms.
American owned companies employ 2 1/2 times as many Americans in the parts or parts content sector than do comparable foreign owned firms. This is evidence that not just "made in USA" means American jobs, but so does buying from an American owned company.
Profits are paid in America to stimulate our economy, and the taxes paid on those profits are paid to the American Government, which we all know is seriously in debt, so this is very important.
Pat Choate, Author and Political Economist, estimates that our U.S. Government loses $30 billion a year in tax revenue just because we support foreign owned companies rather than American owned companies.
The fact that certain companies are classified as American owned companies means that the primary owners are Americans, like you and me. The earnings and profits of American companies are distributed to American stockholders. It is the shares of these companies that make up many of our retirement funds and the funds for our children's education. And American companies are more likely to donate to charities for the benefit of this country.
Supporting the home team (American companies) is catching on! Next time you are in the supermarket, check out any White House brand (applesauce, juices, distilled vinegar, etc.) and you will notice an American flag with the words "US Owned" under it.
It matters to consumers. It matters to the U.S. economy. Buy American owned AND American made for the combination that will best benefit the US economy and you as well.
But even if it is 'Made in USA' by a foreign owned company, isn't the foreign investment a good thing?
Foreign money rarely creates jobs. Of all the jobs foreign companies claim to have "created" in this country, only 5% were newly established operations. The other 95% were acquisitions of existing US factories. It should be distressing to every American that so much of our land, factories, and other resources are being acquired by foreigners. Foreigners use the dollars we send them for a variety of uses, such as:
Loaning our money back to us, for which we pay them interest. (We spend more on paying interest to foreigners every year than we do on our own children's education.)
Lobbying our elected officials to favor foreign interests. The recent campaign finance scandals are evidence there is plenty of foreign money in American Politics. Money that used to be ours, before we sent it to China, etc.
Why do I need this book? I look at the label, so I am already Buying American.
The label doesn't tell the whole story. Foreign owned companies will almost always list the address of their US subsidiaries, so you may think you are truly Buying American, when you really aren't. For instance, Pillsbury Flour and Gold Medal Flour both claim Minneapolis, MN is their home. But for Pillsbury, Minneapolis, MN is merely a US subsidiary of the parent company based in Great Britain. Gold Medal, on the other hand, is actually based in Minneapolis, MN because it is owned by General Mills - a US publicly traded company.
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