Consumers Prefer American-Made, But Aren't Willing to Pay

Newsweek

03-06-2025

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
A recent survey shows that Americans are widely in favor of purchasing products "made in America," but are less willing to stomach the cost increases that may come as a result.
According to the poll conducted by IT firm Integris, 75 percent of U.S. consumers have a preference for U.S.-made goods, a rate that has been boosted thanks to the temporary disruptions in supply chains during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, 62 percent said that other factors, including quality and price, are more important in dictating their purchasing decisions.
Why It Matters
Reshoring American manufacturing and increasing the competitiveness of domestic industries has been a central element of President Donald Trump's economic agenda, and forms one of the rationales behind his sweeping tariff plans. The administration has maintained that the import taxes will prove an incentive for businesses to relocated their production lines to the U.S., and for American consumers to opt for domestically made products.
However, given labor costs, outmoded infrastructure, and the reliance of even domestic manufacturers on imported goods, experts have said that the U.S. will ultimately fall short of achieving this dream.
A General Electric washing machine with a label advertising it was made in America is displayed in retail stores in Cranberry Township, Pa.
A General Electric washing machine with a label advertising it was made in America is displayed in retail stores in Cranberry Township, Pa.
Keith Srakocic/AP Photo
What To Know
Integris gathered responses from 700 American consumers in its survey. While three quarters said they would either strongly prefer (36 percent) or somewhat prefer (39 percent) U.S.-made goods, a quarter said they would not pay more for American-made, and 92 percent said they would only be comfortable with a premium of 10 percent or less.
This mimics the results of other experiments which tested the appetite of consumers for American-made goods, especially if these come at significantly higher prices.
In April, when the 145 percent tariffs on Chinese imports were still in place, entrepreneur Ramon van Meer sold two identical showerheads on the website Afina.com. One of these was manufactured in China with a price tag of $129, while the other came from a U.S. supplier and was priced at $239. Van Meer said the price differential correlated with the costs of relying on a domestic supplier, and the experiment found that none of the over 3,500 customers who purchased the showerhead opted for the American-made version.
What People Are Saying
Gary Gereffi, professor of Sociology and Director of the Global Value Chains Center at Duke University, questioned the feasibility of totally reshoring American manufacturing, and the use of tariffs to accomplish this, telling Newsweek: "I have worked for many years on global supply chains (aka global value chains), and the bottom line is that virtually all products today rely on inputs from cross-border supply chains."
"A few years ago, Adidas and Nike both tried to reshore the production of certain (simple) models of athletic footwear, and they failed," he added. "Adidas had to rely on an automaker in Germany to make shoe components, and within a couple of years closed its factory. Nike did the same with a Mexican factory attempting to make shoes for the U.S. market."
Abe Eshkenazi, CEO of the Association for Supply Chain Management, recently told Newsweek that it would be extremely challenging to bring manufacturing back, in particular for industries such as apparel and textiles due to labor costs and the reluctance of the U.S. workforce to accept these jobs.
"We will have those individuals, but the labor is just not there right now," he said. "The domestic supplier ecosystem, transportation, rail warehousing, talent development, all need to be developed. The infrastructure just isn't there in the short term."
White House adviser Stephen Miller, following Trump's remark that tariffs could mean children getting "two dolls instead of 30 dolls" as a result of the tariff-related price increases, said: "If [consumers] had a choice...between a doll from China that might have, say, lead paint in it, that is not as well constructed as a doll made in America that has a higher environmental and regulatory standard, and that is made to a higher degree of quality, and those two products are both on Amazon, that, yes, you probably would be willing to pay more for a better-made American product."
What Happens Next
Tariffs on Chinese imports are currently at 30 percent, thanks to the 90-day pause agreed between the two countries in May, which also saw China reduce the rate for U.S. goods to 10 percent. Trump's reciprocal tariffs, meanwhile, have been brought down to a baseline 10-percent for 90 days as of April 9.
On Friday, Trump said that he planned to double tariffs on steel imports to 50 percent, after announcing a "blockbuster" partnership between U.S. Steel and Japan's Nippon Steel. The president said that the move would "even further secure the steel industry in the United States. Nobody's going to get around that."