I love writing about American-based companies with which I’ve had a positive, personal experience. Blade + Blue is one such company.

Almost everything Blade + Blue makes is made in the USA (very few items are not). This U.S.-owned company offers American-made apparel of all types, including super high-quality shorts, casual t-shirts, button-down casual dress short-and long-sleeved shirts, tanks, vests, henleys, jackets, boxers, trunks, briefs, sweatshirts, and joggers. If you see an item that does not say “Made in the USA” in the description, like the baseball caps, you can assume they are not made in America.

Full disclosure: You will likely find that Blade + Blue’s apparel will cost more than most imported apparel. But guess what? The quality of Blade + Blue apparel will easily beat less-expensive imports in quality and longevity. For example, I have an acquaintance (let’s call him Jim) with whom I am still discussing the advantages of American-made products. My friend Jim gets it – he really does (mostly) – but still, he would rather buy imported shorts at places like Banana Republic, where everything in the store is imported, because it costs less.

Still, Jim is back at Banana Republic once again buying more imported shorts to replace the ones he bought around the same time I purchased my Blade + Blue shorts. And it’s not because Jim’s shorts are wearing out to the point they have holes in them – they just look old and tired. Meanwhile, my Blade + Blue shorts still display vibrant colors in like-new condition. As the saying goes, “You get what you pay for.”

Another famous saying is, “Don’t be penny-wise and pound-foolish.” It would be foolish to order four or five pairs of imported Banana Republic shorts (or shirts or other apparel) over a few years and have to make several trips back to the store and spend the same money you could have spent on higher-quality Blade + Blue shorts.

Blade + Blue apparel looks much better from the beginning than lesser-quality imports, especially in the long term.

“Made in USA” is much more than a slogan. It’s literally about millions of jobs for our fellow Americans that pay well enough for those workers to reinvest back into the U.S. economy through their consumer purchases.

It’s also about maintaining our high standard of living in this country. Workers in China don’t pay taxes to America. Only American workers pay taxes to America to support the things “We, The People” have demanded from the use of their tax dollars. These “things” include funding our national defense, Social Security, our military and national defense (against known adversaries like China), Medicare, fire & police protection, and infrastructure like roads, parks & bridges, etc.

I have ordered several Blade + Blue products, including shorts, shirts, briefs, boxers, and sweatpants. And I already know that I will order more in the future. Not only am I thrilled with the quality of the products, but I’m also happy that I know I’m keeping jobs, profits, and tax revenue within the borders of my beloved country.

Blade + Blue is frequently adding new and different products to its website. I signed up for the Blade + Blue newsletter for the latest deals and offers. I also signed up for Blade + Blue’s Birthday Club to receive a special discount code to use to celebrate my special day.

Blade + Blue frequently has sales of 15%-25% off, and they are sure to have more of those sales as Christmas approaches, so be on the lookout for discounts off the usual prices.

For me, knowing that I’m wearing apparel made by my fellow Americans and supporting jobs here at home adds to that special feeling I get during the holidays. And those American workers who make products for
Blade + Blue also get a good feeling during the holidays, knowing that their U.S. jobs are secure, and they can use those wages to buy gifts for their families and loved ones as well.

About Roger Simmermaker

Roger Simmermaker has written multiple books on buying American and trade policy since 1996, and has been a frequent guest on Fox News, Fox Business Network, CNN, and MSNBC. Roger has also been quoted or featured in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, BusinessWeek, and The New York Times, among many other publications.

Ever since I left Chicago, where I went to college in the mid-1980s, there is one thing that I miss from there above just about everything else: Chicago-style stuffed deep-dish pizza that can’t be found anywhere else.

Now, thankfully, there is a way to enjoy that superbly unique pizza no matter where you happen to be, and that is Rupiani’s at www.rupianis.com.

At Rupiani’s, you can get Classic Cheese, Authentic Pepperoni, or their number one best seller Original Sausage, shipped right to your door. Or you can choose the Sampler Pack and enjoy one of each (their best deal).

I recently ordered the sampler pack because I like pepperoni and sausage pizzas, but my wife prefers cheese pizza, so we got something we could both enjoy and enjoy we did!

The pepperoni and sausage deep-dish pizzas were completely reminiscent of the Chicago-style pizzas I remembered from years ago. And get this: The Original Sausage pizza is a whopping 2 lbs., 5 oz. The Authentic Pepperoni weighs in at 2 lbs., 4 oz. That is A LOT of pizza. And the Classic Cheese pizza registers at 2 lbs., 2 oz., enough to satisfy anyone who loves loads of cheese on their pizza. These pizzas are that heavy because the ingredients and toppings are very generous.

With Rupiani’s (www.rupianis.com), your pizza is made in River North using Chicago water, the finest ingredients, and no preservatives. Your stuffed deep-dish pizzas ship frozen on dry ice with an expedited two- to three-day delivery. Once you receive your pizzas, all you need to do is follow their easy reheating instructions to enjoy the authentic taste of Chicago within just one hour of opening your pizza box. Rupiani’s provides specific instructions for the ultimate culinary experience because they want to ensure you can enjoy your pizza the way it was meant to be.

Rupiani’s has received critically acclaimed comments in the Wall Street Journal, People Magazine, Bloomberg, The New York Times, and many other publications, so you don’t have to take my word for it alone.

And with Rupiani’s 100% Satisfaction Guarantee, you simply can’t go wrong and can order with complete confidence. Once you give Rupiani’s a try, you’ll be hooked. I know from personal experience that I will be ordering more now that I have revisited the unique experience of eating Chicago-style deep-dish pizza like a local with no travel, no lines, and in the comfort of my own home. It can’t get any easier than that. Just receive it, heat it, and eat it. Simple.

On the Rupiani’s website (www.rupianis.com), they explain the reasoning behind why it matters that Chicago-style pizza is actually made in Chicago.

They have been asked countless times, “What’s your secret to the best-tasting Chicago stuffed deep-dish pizza?” Rupiani’s believes it all boils down to three things: secret family recipes, decades of experience, and the Chicago water.

The pH level and mineral content of Chicago water are higher compared to other regions. This affects the texture, taste, and the overall quality of the pizza dough. Who would have thought making the best pizza in America was so technical? Now you know why trying to replicate authentic Chicago-style pizza anywhere else just doesn’t work well. You obviously can’t get Chicago water anywhere but Chicago.

And now, WND.com readers can enjoy $25.00 off their order at checkout at www.rupianis.com. Just enter the code WND25 for the $25.00 off, and you’ll be well on your way to enjoying the best that Chicago-style deep-dish pizza has to offer.

About Roger Simmermaker

Roger Simmermaker has written multiple books on buying American and trade policy since 1996, and has been a frequent guest on Fox News, Fox Business Network, CNN, and MSNBC. Roger has also been quoted or featured in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, BusinessWeek, and The New York Times, among many other publications.

Seven cents. Yes, it seems insignificant, doesn’t it? But sometimes that’s all it takes to support American jobs instead of those in China, Mexico, and other foreign countries. And sometimes, it doesn’t cost anything extra at all.

Everyone buys scrubber pads, whether it’s for cleaning the kitchen, bathroom, counters, dishes, etc.

A recent visit to my local supermarket revealed just how easy it is to make the right decision – the decision to support fellow American workers – when making small purchases where the price difference is negligible.

Here are the options I found (all packages of three). You could buy the following imported scrubber pads for slightly (very slightly) than the American-made options. We are talking pennies, here:

• Scotch-Brite – Made in Canada with globally sourced materials. Scotch-Brite is owned by St. Paul, MN-based 3M. I know Minnesota is in the Northern U.S., but do we have to go across the border to Canada to make these? And can’t we do it with domestic materials? Makes you wonder. $3.89 per 3-pack.
• Scotch-Brite Greener Cleaner – Made in Mexico. It is interesting that this “green” product is made in a country that ranks number 60 in Wikipedia’s “List of countries by air pollution.” The United States is a distant 143. The lower the ranking/number, the greater the pollution. $3.29 per 3-pack.
• Dawn Non-Scratch Scrubber Sponge – Made in Mexico. Dawn is a brand owned by Cincinnati-based Proctor & Gamble. $3.59 per 3-pack.

Or, you could buy any of the following American-made scrubber pads for seven cents more or even less than that:

• Dawn Power Clean Scrubber – Made in USA. $3.99 per 3-pack.
• Brillo Estracall No Scratch Scrub Sponge—Made in the USA. Brillo is owned by Armaly Brands, which began in the Bahamas in 1908 and moved its headquarters to Walled Lake, Michigan, in 1983. It costs $3.09 per three-pack.
• Libman All-Purpose Non-Scratch – Family Made in the USA Since 1896. Libman is based in small-town Arcola, Illinois (population 2,927) and is slightly more than 100 miles from my hometown Jacksonville, Illinois. Libman is one of the few remaining makers of traditional (American-made) corn brooms, and they actually manufacture many of their product components in-house. $3.79 per 3-pack.
• Libman Heavy Duty Easy Rinse – Family Made in the USA Since 1896. $3.79 per 3-pack.

I based the “seven cents” in the article title on comparing the Mexican-made Dawn Non-Scratch Scrubber Sponge at $3.59 per 3-pack to the Libman All-Purpose Non-Scratch or the Libman Heavy Duty Easy Rinse, both at $3.79 per 3-Pack. This represents a 20-cent difference, or seven cents per scrubbing pad, since there are three in a pack.

But you can clearly choose the American-made Brillo Estracell Scrub Sponge at $3.09 per 3-Pack and pay less than you would for any import in this category.

Personally, I prefer to pay that extra seven cents to buy Libman products. I recently bought the American-made Libman Tornado Cotton Twist Wet Mop for $12.98 at Lowe’s. Compare that to the imported Swiffer mop at $15.98.

If you purchase any Libman mop, all you need is an American-made Libman bucket (or any other American-made bucket), which I already had. With Swiffer, you will need to keep buying imported mop and also imported (can’t they at least make these in America?) wet/dry mopping cloths. Once again, the American-made version is the cheaper option.

I don’t count the Mexican-made Scotch-Brite Greener Cleaner as an option based upon the misleading “green” claim listed in the above pollution details.

President Abraham Lincoln once said, “…when we buy manufactured goods abroad, we get the goods and the foreigner gets the money. When we buy the manufactured goods at home, we get both the goods and the money.”

He is arguably America’s most popular president, and he was absolutely correct. Let’s spend our dollars on American-made goods from American-owned companies to keep jobs, profits, and tax revenue in the USA. It’s easy to do, and in the cases listed above, it can either cost less or simply an additional seven cents.

About Roger Simmermaker

Roger Simmermaker has written multiple books on buying American and trade policy since 1996, and has been a frequent guest on Fox News, Fox Business Network, CNN, and MSNBC. Roger has also been quoted or featured in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, BusinessWeek, and The New York Times, among many other publications.

There are many American-made products in the home goods category that I could name, but this time I’m listing items I have personally bought, used, and like.

My wife and I have relocated from Orlando to St. Louis, and the new area offers an education of regional brands specific to where we now live. As we accent our new home, we have chosen many American-made products we may have otherwise not been considering.

Few things are simpler than getting soap dishes for the bathrooms and kitchen. I ordered two from www.mycluckhut.com, and I’ll probably order more. At $5.00 each, the price is hard to beat. If you don’t mind spending a little more for a fancier soap dish, I would recommend Fern Valley Soaps, which are in the $15.00-$17.50 range. You can also browse their selection of American-made soaps, lip balm, gift boxes, and more.

We literally just ordered outdoor patio furniture from POLYWOOD, which has been manufacturing in Syracuse, Indiana, since 1990. The company also opened a new facility in North Carolina in 2023, boosting their employment to 1,550 American jobs. All products are backed with a 20-year warranty.

POLYWOOD products are made of reusable and recycled plastics, which means the products themselves are recyclable.

We ordered a sofa table from Mueller Furniture, and we will be ordering more furniture from this company in the future. Mueller doesn’t sell any furniture that isn’t made in the USA, so there are no questions or second-guessing when we shop. The stores are local to the St. Louis area, so you would have to be in the area to take advantage of this all-American store, but if you happen to be passing through, you should check them out.

When you need a wide range of cleaning products like mops, brooms, brushes, buckets, dust pans, squeegees, scrubbers, and sponges, look no further than Libman ( https://libman.com/). Their website says “most” of the products are made in the USA, but I have personally not seen any in retail stores that are not.

We have bought many American-made treats for our cats over the years, but the most recent is by Grandma Lucy’s. The treats are all natural, GMO-free and contain no by-products. Our cats love them.

Retail chain Target offers many Brightroom products from storage bins and totes to kitchen & food storage and waste baskets. Not all products are made in America, but the waste baskets we bought for our bathrooms certainly are.

For more than 30 years, Whitinsville, Massachusetts-based August Ceramics has been designing and hand-crafting attractive and charming ceramic giftware. But, of course, giftware can always be gifted to yourself. All ceramic products from dog and cat themed ornaments, plates, and plaques are fired in a kiln and painted by hand, so slight variations occur and mean that no two products are alike. You can also personalize your ceramic giftware.

And, last but not least, is Yaupon Brothers American Tea Co., which is based in Central Florida where I lived for 38 years and supplies the tea I drink almost every day. Yaupon is known to be the America’s only native caffeinated plant. Each tea leaf is carefully hand-plucked, then dried or fire-roasted, graded, milled, and packed by hand in their Crescent City, Florida organic farm facility. No aspect of production is outsourced.

One of the most unique and interesting things about Yaupon tea is that it is tannin-free, and as a result, is naturally sweet. It’s also impossible to over-steep, and I get at least two cups from a single sachet. Yaupon Brothers American Tea Co. also has an excellent rewards program where you can easily gain 20% off your order after only a few purchases. All these aspects combined make for a very affordable and enjoyable American tea experience. Adios, imported tea.

As I mentioned earlier, I no longer reside in Central Florida. My new address as listed on www.howtobuyamerican.com is 1136 Washington Ave., #910, St. Louis, MO 63101. The toll-free number is the same, which is 1-888-US OWNED (888-876-9633). You can still email me at roger@howtobuyamerican.com.

Also worth mentioning, I am planning a fourth edition of “How Americans Can Buy American: The Power of Consumer Patriotism” to be published in 2025, which promises to be the best edition yet, so stay tuned!

Thank you for your continued support and for your “Buy American Mention of the Week” email subscription!

About Roger Simmermaker

Roger Simmermaker has written multiple books on buying American and trade policy since 1996, and has been a frequent guest on Fox News, Fox Business Network, CNN, and MSNBC. Roger has also been quoted or featured in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, BusinessWeek, and The New York Times, among many other publications.

Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@wndnewscenter.org.

SUPPORT TRUTHFUL JOURNALISM. MAKE A DONATION TO THE NONPROFIT WND NEWS CENTER. THANK YOU!

According to a November 2023 Morning Consult Poll, 86% of Americans surveyed said they would like to buy more American-made goods if only they were available through large retailers.

There is a very simple reason retailers, large and small, prefer to stock their shelves with foreign-made goods: the price markup. Many retailers would much rather offer imported products from China or other cheap-labor countries than from higher-wage countries like the United States.

Retailers in the U.S. would much rather sell you an imported pair of shoes from Nike, Adidas (German-owned), or Skechers than an American-made (and American-owned) pair of shoes from New Balance. Since America’s standard of living and, therefore, wages are much higher than in India, Bangladesh, and China, retailers like Foot Locker would rather sell you a Nike shoe made overseas for the same price as an American-made New Balance shoe and pocket a higher profit markup.

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The minimum wage in Beijing (the highest in China) is $3.70 per hour. Minimum wages for the U.S. range from $7.25 per hour in several states to 17.00 per hour in Washington, D.C. (the highest). California’s minimum wage is $15.50.

Even if we use the highest Chinese minimum wage and the lowest U.S. minimum wage, products from China (not just shoes) can be made for at least half the cost of American-made products.

Shoes, automobiles at dealerships, apparel, and many other products sold in the U.S. are nearly the same price. That is why retailers like to carry imports on their store shelves, charge the same price as American-made products, and pocket higher profits. The next time you visit a retail store that sells footwear, you might notice that almost all sneaker prices are nearly identical regardless of where the branded products are made.

In fact, even though retailers like Foot Locker carry New Balance footwear, they tend to carry imported New Balance shoes. New Balance makes about 25% of their footwear in the U.S., which may not sound like a lot, until you realize companies like Nike, Adidas, and Skechers make none of their footwear here. And New Balance just broke ground on a New Hampshire facility to add to their five U.S. factories where they produce 4 million pairs of shoes per year.

There are other examples of foreign-made goods costing as much as American-made goods despite lower labor costs in foreign countries. Irish Spring makes several types of body wash, including an American-made version that I like and use. Irish Spring (owned by U.S.-based Colgate-Palmolive) also makes certain varieties of body wash in Mexico. Guess what? All of the body wash varieties sold by Irish Spring cost the same in my local stores, whether made in America or Mexico. This is despite the fact that Mexican wages are one-eighth of American wages.

Clearly, Colgate has been pocketing the extra profits from the more cheaply-produced body wash that is made in Mexico instead of passing the cost savings on to you, the consumer.

Is the Softsoap made in Mexico less expensive for the American consumer than the Softsoap made in the USA? No. Why are Hallmark greeting cards made in America often less costly than the ones made in China? Why can I find combs made in the USA at my wife’s favorite beauty supply store cheaper than the ones made in China?

Do you think the Mexican-made Toyota Tacoma is less expensive on the auto dealer lot than the Toyota Tacoma made in America? Of course not. The market has determined the cost of an automobile, and the same goes for footwear.

Although it may not happen in the near future, what should happen is for brick-and-mortar retailers to offer more American-made goods on their shelves. That is why it is a good idea to visit websites like www.MadeinUSAForever.com, www.AllAmericanClothing.com, www.AmericanTrench.com, www.American-Giant.com, www.allusaclothing.com, www.allamericanstore.us, www.authenticity50.com, and www.strictlyusa.com, which carry only American-made products. And this time of year, you can get some great deals on many American-made products.

These websites are very important since online retailers are still not required to disclose where products are made. That can’t change soon enough, either.

About Roger Simmermaker

Roger Simmermaker has written multiple books on buying American and trade policy since 1996, and has been a frequent guest on Fox News, Fox Business Network, CNN, and MSNBC. Roger has also been quoted or featured in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, BusinessWeek, and The New York Times, among many other publications. His new book ” UNCONSTITUTIONAL: Our Founding Fathers Rejected FREE TRADE And So Should We,” was printed in January 2020.

IMPORTANT NOTE TO WND READERS: Shortly after Hamas terrorists fired over 5,000 rockets from Gaza into Israel on Oct. 7 and then proceeded to attack the Jewish state by land, sea and air – torturing, burning, beheading and murdering well over a thousand people, including women, children and infants, and wounding and abducting hundreds more – world reaction was, in its own way, almost equally shocking.

For after the biggest one-day mass slaughter of Jews since the Nazi Holocaust, what followed was an outpouring of celebratory demonstrations, unbridled Jew-hatred, deliriously gleeful support for Hamas and bitter condemnation of the nation of Israel. Not just in the Arab-Muslim world, but throughout the Western world as well, including all across America.

Why? What is behind the explosion of anti-Israel, anti-Jewish, pro-terror sentiment in the United States, where Israel has long been one of America’s closest friends and allies? Why are hordes of young “woke” LGBT demonstrators marching in support of Hamas – when Hamas wouldn’t think twice about binding and blindfolding them and throwing them off the roof of a tall building – as they routinely do in the Muslim world?

It turns out there’s one area of agreement that is so powerful, deep-seated and all-consuming that the vast differences between the deranged left and the murderous jihadists melt away into Kumbaya harmony.

All of this and much more is completely exposed in November’s issue of WND’s critically acclaimed monthly Whistleblower magazine, titled ISRAEL VS. GLOBAL JIHAD: How Jew-hatred, radical Islam and Leftism are pushing us toward World War III. Beyond a deeply insightful dive into why leftists are surging toward radical Islam – which hates and dreams of raping and butchering them – this Whistleblower issue includes fantastic articles by everyone from top Israeli analyst (and former Israel Defense Forces officer) Caroline Glick to Harvest Christian Fellowship’s Pastor Greg Laurie on the current war in Israel and biblical prophecies regarding the End Times … which he says are now upon us.

WHISTLEBLOWER is available in both the popular print edition and a state-of-the-art digital version, either single issues or discounted annual subscriptions.

For 25 years, WND has boldly brought you the news that really matters. If you appreciate our Christian journalists and their uniquely truthful reporting and analysis, please help us by becoming a WND Insider!

Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@wndnewscenter.org.

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No political group is doing more to save face these days than free trade advocates. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “save face” equates “to avoid having other people lose respect for oneself.” The Oxford English Dictionary defines “save face” as “retain respect; avoid humiliation.”

Free traders today are busy trying to save face in the current era of successful protectionist policies, which free traders predicted would crash the economy and revisit the Great Depression, among other claimed catastrophes – none of which ever came true, of course.

According to free traders, tariffs were supposed to raise prices to levels that would decimate consumer spending, which didn’t happen. However, what did happen was the Fed’s eventual raising of interest rates. And even though this did cause consumer prices to rise in many areas (but not all), the job market is so strong that jobs are plentiful, prosperity is advancing, consumer confidence is high, and manufacturing is strong.

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Economic dislocation in the U.S. from free trade and globalization has made the old-style version of free trade deals a losing proposition in many politicians’ eyes.

Speaking in a trade subcommittee hearing on September 20, 2023, about renewing the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., said, “Our trade policy should support American jobs at any opportunity.”

U.S. consumers, who continued to ramp up spending on material goods during the COVID-19 pandemic, still haven’t looked back. Free trade-leaning economists are still wondering how long the increase in spending will last. Until then, they are still trying to find ways to save face.

In response to former U.S. Senator Phil Gramm’s September 12, 2023, Wall Street Journal op-ed “Trump’s Trade War Was a Loser,” former U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer rightly stated, “the Section 301 tariffs on China reduced our dependency on a global adversary.” Manufacturing employment increased from 2017-2019 (before the pandemic hit).

Gramm also makes the ludicrous claim that “countries are better off running trade deficits,” which Lighthizer rightly responds is a “policy that would lead you to bankruptcy in your personal life.”

In April 2023, Procter & Gamble Co., maker of Tide detergent and Pampers diapers, tested shoppers’ tolerance for increasingly higher prices and found that consumers are still willing to pay up.

Also, in April 2023, General Motors Co., citing the willingness of consumers to spend more on higher-end models, raised its outlook for full-year profit.

According to a July 17, 2023, Wall Street Journal article, paychecks for American workers have now exceeded inflation – an unfortunate development for free traders willing to cling to their failed orthodoxy.

I’m not a huge Janet Yellen fan, but I was happy to see her say that “protecting national security would be the U.S. priority in its relationship with China even if it slows economic growth.”

Free traders could never get on board with such a stance. To them, it is all about low prices as an end to stimulate economic growth. It doesn’t matter to them if China surpasses the U.S. as the world’s number one superpower. It’s all about free trade and freedom to trade overall. To them, there is no “Finding the balance with China between defending national security and encouraging economic growth,” as Janet Yellen put it.

With the stock market at its best winning streak since 1987, even in the face of rising interest rates hiked by the Federal Reserve, it turns out that higher interest rates are not anti-business, anti-growth, or anti-stock market gains. Neither were tariffs.

We could have had higher prices due to tariffs, reaped benefits for the national economy, and still had this winning streak in the stock market. The outlook for the economy is good even with higher interest rates and inflation because people have money in their pockets and are able to spend.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on October 19, 2023, that the economy is handling high-interest rates (including home interest rates over 8%). The free trade camp doesn’t see this as a considerable economic concern. But they do see a problem with former President Trump’s proposed 10% tariff on all imports if re-elected. Never mind that the Tariff Act of 1789, which President George Washington signed into law on July 4, 1789, imposed a tariff of 5 percent on the majority of dutiable imports for the encouragement and protection of manufacturing in America.

For the next one hundred and twenty-five years, tariffs on imports provided 50 percent to 85 percent of all revenue required to run the federal government.

Free traders also fail to recognize that the unemployment rate was 6.3% when President Biden took office and has been at 4% or less for 22 months in a row. And Biden kept the overwhelming majority of the Trump tariffs on imports, including all the tariffs imposed on China.

On July 17, 2023, a Wall Street Journal article titled “Pay Raises Are Finally Beating Inflation After Two Years of Falling Behind,” detailed that wages rose more than 4% while consumer prices increased 3%.

The difference between free trade face-savers and otherwise objective Americans can be described by Nobel Laureate Angus Deaton, who says in a BusinessWeek magazine edition on October 9, 2023, that his own views have flipped. According to the article, “Mr. Deaton believes nothing…exemplifies how economics has gone awry more than the epidemic of deaths from alcoholism, opioid overdoses and suicide that has hit the American working class in recent decades. He believes one primary cause of that surge was economists’ enthusiasm for globalization, with its emphasis on the unfettered movement of goods, capital and jobs.” Deaton says “You can’t think about trade policy and think about money entirely. It’s people’s souls and their communities and their churches and their lives” that are at stake when jobs are dislocated.

Protectionist Pat Buchanan used to be a free trader. So did Sen. Marco Rubio. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich admitted he was wrong on China in his 2019 book, in which he stated, “I decided I really wanted to put together a book — partly for myself — but also because I thought it was useful to have somebody who had been part of the consensus on China to say, ‘Wait a second, here’s what went wrong, here’s people like me to change their opinions and this is how big the challenge is going to be.”

The bottom line is that free traders are making an embarrassing saving-face attempt in an era of high tariffs, resulting in a lower unemployment rate, higher wages than prices, and higher consumer spending despite record inflation and high-interest rates.

British economist John Maynard Keynes once said, “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?” But free trade face-savers can’t bring themselves to do that in the light of a successful economy with relatively high tariffs.

Many free traders know they are wrong in pushing free trade and free markets and their potential economic injury to our country, but they simply cannot stop peddling their face-saving lies.

About Roger Simmermaker

Roger Simmermaker has written multiple books on buying American and trade policy since 1996, and has been a frequent guest on Fox News, Fox Business Network, CNN, and MSNBC. Roger has also been quoted or featured in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, BusinessWeek, and The New York Times, among many other publications. His new book ” UNCONSTITUTIONAL: Our Founding Fathers Rejected FREE TRADE And So Should We,” was printed in January 2020.

IMPORTANT NOTE TO WND READERS: “Our country is going communist!” warned Donald Trump recently. “It’s going Marxist, it’s going REALLY bad.” He added, “The PEOPLE of our country aren’t that way – but the people RUNNING it are.” Is this just election-season bluster and hyperbole, or can the utterly unthinkable be true?

Incredibly, it is true. In 2023 America, the Democratic Party – its agendas, its core values, its wall-to-wall dishonesty, and its audacious and utterly ruthless methods – are virtually indistinguishable from those of modern-day communists. Compare the Communist Party USA’s website, CPUSA.org (where the featured top-of-page story is about “TRANS RIGHTS”), with the Democratic National Committee’s website, Democrats.org, and try to discern any substantive difference.

America’s plunge into atheistic Marxism in virtually every area of life – from weaponizing government and courts to destroy critics and political opponents, to crushing free speech, to corrupting and brainwashing the nation’s children, and much much more – is all stunningly explored in the October issue of WND’s critically acclaimed Whistleblower magazine, titled “AMERICA’S COMMUNIST REVOLUTION: How the freest nation in history is rapidly becoming a Marxist police state.” Beyond exposing the Marxist takeover of America’s key institutions, this explosive special report goes on to reveal how Marxism/communism is ACTUALLY A MAJOR WORLD RELIGION, albeit a false and malevolent one. It unearths what REALLY motivates the “high priests” of this truly dark atheistic faith, which has captivated untold millions and murdered millions more. And it vividly illustrates exactly how and why citizens of the greatest nation in history are now experiencing – to quote Barack Obama’s words – “a fundamental transformation of the United States of America.” This Whistleblower issue is a crucial wake-up call for all Americans. WHISTLEBLOWER is available in both the popular print edition and a state-of-the-art digital version, either single issues or discounted annual subscriptions.

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Sometimes the best referrals for the best American products come from word of mouth or personal experience. In this article, I feature three American-owned companies that make their goods in the USA: Two of which I have purchased myself, and one of which was recommended to me.

At www.knorts.com you’ll find denim designs that are done differently since they are knitted and not woven. These unique designs worn by celebrities like Lady Gaga are knitted on looms in Los Angeles with the same indigo-dyed yarns used to weave traditional denim fabric.

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Multinational apparel makers source exclusively from large rolls of fabric. Not so with almost all Knorts designs. Most designs are knitted to the exact size and shape needed, from small fabric pieces to precise measurements.

My wife owns no fewer than five pieces of Knorts designs, and she is set to order even more. The apparel is a little pricey, but as is true with many American-made products, you’ll get a better value with a better-quality product that will last much longer than “supposed-comparable” cheap imports. You certainly won’t find this kind of quality coming from China.

The yarn used by www.knorts.com is referred to as indigo-dyed yarn for knitting (not weaving as in traditional denim) and is not readily available in the United States. However, the search is always on for a domestic supplier.

www.whitedressshirts.com (WDS) is another example of a great American-made product without domestic suppliers for certain materials. Regardless of from which company you order your dress shirts, the fabric will be imported. Domestic supply simply does not exist. So as with Knorts.com, buying American with WDS is all about doing what you can where you can to support the most American workers.

I have ordered three dress shirts from WDS and couldn’t be happier with them. The quality is absolutely excellent, so you won’t be lacking in confidence with your appearance – first impression or not.

The best thing about founder Jeff Fletcher’s story of designing fabrics for the fashion trade, including Liz Claiborne and Oscar De la Renta, is that he now has no ties to any department stores. This allows him to streamline the process and offer an American-made, comparable high-end dress shirt below import prices. Shipping directly to you from WDS – not through department stores – will give you the best quality at the best price.

Several years ago, I used to buy Oakley sunglasses until they were acquired in 2007 by Italian-owned Luxottica, the world’s largest eyewear company. Luxottica is a huge company that also owns Ray-Ban, Revo, Arnette, and K&L (formerly Killer Loop) brand sunglasses as well as LensCrafters, Pearle Vision, and Sunglass Hut retail chains.

After Oakley ceased to be an American brand name, I discovered U.S.-based Gatorz sunglasses (www.gatorz.com), which are also proudly made in the USA.

With Gatorz, there is no reason to pay for high-end, imported sunglasses when you could be supporting an American-owned company making a great product in the U.S. with American workers. I have several pairs of Gatorz sunglasses (some of them at least 10 years old), and the quality has stood the test of time.

Much has been said about the low unemployment rate, and because of that, those who advocate imports and could care less about U.S. manufacturing have said that we don’t have to worry about ensuring the products we buy are made in the USA.

But here’s the concern: According to a May 31, 2022, Wall Street Journal article, Daron Acemoglu, who is an economics professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says, “factories’ increasing reliance on automation will lead to an oversupply of human labor that will drive down wages in the years ahead unless other U.S. industries can absorb displaced manufacturing workers.”

If this is true (and I believe it will turn out to be so) we need as many U.S. manufacturing jobs as possible in every industry to counter the likely coming oversupply of human labor.

“Automation, if it goes very fast, can destroy a lot of jobs,” Mr. Acemoglu said. “The labor shortage is not going to last. This is temporary.”

Robots are showing up on more assembly lines and factory floors as domestic producers struggle to find enough workers to hire and fill increasing orders.

Orders for robots in U.S. workplaces increased by 40% (a record) during the first three months of 2022 from the same quarter in 2021, according to the robotics industry trade group Association for Advancing Automation.

The bottom line? Continue to focus on American-made products, regardless of the unemployment rate and regardless of what U.S. consumers are spending more money on, which is currently on services like travel. The time will come when our country will more heavily rely on U.S. manufacturing to keep our national prosperity going.

In fact, our national prosperity is good as it is now because of the ability of U.S. consumers to spend. Consumer spending is responsible for 70% of U.S. economic activity. The more money American consumers have in their pockets to spend, the more they can keep American prosperity going.

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The key to ongoing national prosperity is employing Americans who work at companies like www.knorts.com, www.whitedressshirts.com and www.gatorz.com. Buying American may cost a little more at times, but we should not consider it an extra cost but rather as an investment in America, because that is exactly what it is.

About Roger Simmermaker

Roger Simmermaker has written multiple books on buying American and trade policy since 1996, and has been a frequent guest on Fox News, Fox Business Network, CNN, and MSNBC. Roger has also been quoted or featured in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, BusinessWeek, and The New York Times, among many other publications. His new book ” UNCONSTITUTIONAL: Our Founding Fathers Rejected FREE TRADE And So Should We,” was printed in January 2020.

For 25 years, WND has boldly brought you the news that really matters. If you appreciate our Christian journalists and their uniquely truthful reporting and analysis, please help us by becoming a WND Insider!

Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@wndnewscenter.org.

IMPORTANT NOTE: “Election denier!” “Science denier!” “Climate-change denier!” “Conspiracy theorist!” And then there’s “hate speech,” “fake news,” “disinformation,” “misinformation,” even something called “MALinformation.” A bizarre new lexicon has been conjured up by America’s elites, the SOLE PURPOSE of which is to discredit and ridicule – and if at all possible, CENSOR ENTIRELY – speech that doesn’t support their increasingly dark and deranged agenda. Tucker Carlson is just the latest.

In the greatest imaginable irony, the nation once boasting the most robust culture of freedom of speech and the press – undergirded by the strongest constitutional protections for those rights – is now ground zero for a total war on free expression.

How could this possibly happen in the United States of America? It’s all explained as never before in the sensational new issue of WND’s critically acclaimed WHISTLEBLOWER magazine, titled “THE ELITES’ ALL-OUT WAR ON FREE SPEECH.” WHISTLEBLOWER is available in both the popular print edition and a state-of-the-art digital version, either single issues or discounted annual subscriptions.

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Sometimes well-intended regulations, such as antitrust agendas, can go too far to the detriment of U.S. companies and the American marketplace.

The current FTC campaign to break up certain American-owned tech firms will likely only benefit Chinese-owned companies like Huawei, Tencent, Baidu, and Alibaba. That’s not good for U.S. competitiveness.

On their face, antitrust laws can ensure fair competition among businesses operating in the United States.

Dating back as far as 1890, our U.S. Congress worked to restrict concentrations of power that might reduce economic competition in the United States with the Sherman Act. 1914 brought us the Clayton Antitrust Act and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Act, further laying the foundation for antitrust legislation.

To be clear, regulation has a proper place to ensure thriving fair competition in the American marketplace. To that end, the DOJ, FTC, and state attorneys general are investigating and suing problem actors like Facebook, Google, and Twitter that continue to bully, censor, use, and abuse the American people. But if we regulate American-owned companies in ways Chinese-owned companies are not subject to, American companies, American competitiveness, and ultimately American consumers stand to lose out.

Unfortunately, however, that’s exactly what’s happening today.

The FTC recently rejected the consumer welfare standard, which has served as a longtime governing commitment to only regulate business conduct that harms consumers. As a result, it’s no longer just going after the Google and Twitters of the world for stifling Americans’ free speech in the public square; it’s also trying to stop harmless companies that it doesn’t like for ideological reasons from going about their business.

For example, the FTC is trying to stop Microsoft from acquiring Activision Blizzard, which would allow the company to better compete with problem companies like Sony.

Although the Microsoft-Activision deal would help, not harm consumers, the FTC is now able to challenge it anyway since the commission has done away with the consumer welfare standard. The FTC’s blocking of this deal benefits no one more than communist China. Its company Tencent will only get stronger should the FTC not allow Microsoft this chance to become more competitive with Sony, which Tencent frequently collaborates with within the marketplace.

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Former Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta have sent letters to Reps. Kevin McCarthy and Nancy Pelosi warning of China’s quest to “undermine U.S. influence” and to replace the United States as “the world’s leading innovator.”

The last thing we need right now is legislation or regulatory action that allows the Chinese government to further support their national tech champions, which are under heavy influence and control from the Chinese government.

A December 10, 2020, Wall Street Journal article detailed, “China’s most powerful leader in a generation wants even greater state control in the world’s second-largest economy, with private firms of all sizes expected to fall in line.” This state control even funnels down to small businesses with little or nothing to do with national security. 50-year-old Li Jun, who owns a fish-farming business located in China’s Jiangsu province, says, “For us small businesses, we have no choice but to follow the party. Even so, we’re not benefiting at all from government policies.” And yet, while China continues to do everything it can to shore up its tech and economic base, we must prevent the country from running circles around us by destroying whatever domestic tech dominance we have left.

Again, regulation against American tech companies like Google, Facebook, and Twitter should be welcomed where it is needed. Our U.S. Constitution says we are to “regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States” in Article I, Section 8, Paragraph 3.

That said, targeting our homegrown U.S. tech giants with over-bearing regulation while giving predatory industry-leading Chinese companies a pass could significantly curb innovation that is “critical to maintaining America’s technological edge,” Dan Coats and Leon Panetta argue.

If any regulatory effort involving America’s largest technology companies risks compromising our economic security or national security, we should reconsider such policies.

The late and former presidential candidate Ross Perot used to say, “Measure twice and cut once.” Let’s double-check what we propose to regulate through careful and strategic planning. If we don’t, we may end up causing unintended harm to our nation’s security, innovation, and prosperity, which may be costly to repair – or worse yet – irreversible.

About Roger Simmermaker

Roger Simmermaker has written multiple books on buying American and trade policy since 1996, and has been a frequent guest on Fox News, Fox Business Network, CNN, and MSNBC. Roger has also been quoted or featured in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, BusinessWeek, and The New York Times, among many other publications. His new book ” UNCONSTITUTIONAL: Our Founding Fathers Rejected FREE TRADE And So Should We,” was printed in January 2020.

For 25 years, WND has boldly brought you the news that really matters. If you appreciate our Christian journalists and their uniquely truthful reporting and analysis, please help us by becoming a WND Insider!

Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@wndnewscenter.org.

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The holidays are well behind us, but even though we aren’t laser-focused on buying that American-made gift for family or loved ones, we should still seek to buy American whenever possible.

New York-based Oneida doesn’t make silverware in America anymore (try www.libertytabletop.com), but Oneida-owned Anchor Hocking makes all their products in the USA. The company website says it all:

“We’ve been making Anchor Hocking glassware right here in the USA for more than a century. For all that time, our products have remained a staple in kitchens around the world by staying on the edge of craftsmanship and in the center of American-made quality.

“Supporting American jobs is a source of great pride for us, and it’s important to our customers too. They appreciate our dedication to the workforce here at home. And abroad, ‘made in the USA’ means something else – quality.”

For American-made footwear, try Origin, Shloop, Red Wing, and Footskins.

Origin sources all its leather from Wisconsin’s Seidel Tanning Factory and its denim from Georgia’s Mount Vernon Mills for production in its Farmington, Maine factory employing nearly all of the company’s 600 workers.

Origin (boots, jeans, and other apparel) exhausts all avenues to ensure all materials, fibers, and components are sourced in America, exceeding Berry Amendment Standards. If a component is made on American soil, they use it.

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Shloop (The Shoe Loop – https://shloop.it/) co-founder Rachel Hunt said the company sees a “huge opportunity” to potentially be America’s first domestic sustainable footwear manufacturer, help the community and the state, and support a “domestic innovation hub” for other brands. “We want that to go back into our economy instead of China’s,” she said.

Thanks to $9 million of capital investment, the not-yet-completed 30,000-square-foot plant should produce 56 jobs when it comes online in a town with a population of 34,000 about 100 miles east of Jackson, Mississippi.

Red Wing Heritage sources materials from the United States as much as possible, giving the company a score of over 90 percent according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requirements needed to declare “Made in the USA” on its products. Note: Red Wing’s WORX brand footwear is imported.

Footskins ( https://www.footwearbyfootskins.com/) creates custom deerskin and cowhide leather moccasin-styled footwear handcrafted in America for men, women, and children. Their all-leather accessories are completely made in the USA of American leathers.

ShopPOPdisplays (https://www.shoppopdisplays.com/) bills itself as the “Leading Manufacturer of Made in USA Stock & Custom Displays.” However, when browsing the website, look for the “Made in USA” icon to ensure you aren’t viewing a product made by a global supplier.

The Woodland Park Collection of ready-to-assemble wood display units and the line of acrylic risers are made in the USA.

Libman (https://libman.com/) products have been family-made in the USA since 1896. According to the website, “The vast majority of our products are made right here in the USA in Arcola, IL. What began over 125 years ago as a wire wound corn broom, has evolved into a full line of cleaning products, including brooms, mops, brushes, sponges, gloves, liquid cleaners and more.”

You will find Libman products in many retail stores across America. To find a store near you, visit https://libman.com/where-buy.

If you enjoy a great cup of tea as I do (I don’t drink coffee), you might check out Well Rooted Teas. The mission of this Minnesota-based company is to support local agricultural communities and purchase ingredients from local farms in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Most farms are certified organic, and none use synthetic pesticides, fertilizers, or GMOs.

I plan to start with ordering a pack of 20 tea bags for just $5.00 before trying some of their appealing seasonal blends. Even the Double Walled Infuser Bottle is made in the USA. All you have to do is add tea to the infuser basket, fill the bottle with hot water, and you’re ready for hot tea on the go!

It’s always uplifting to discover new ways to buy American-made products from American-owned companies to keep our dollars circulating in our local communities and our country. Our local and national prosperity depends on it.

About Roger Simmermaker

Roger Simmermaker has written multiple books on buying American and trade policy since 1996, and has been a frequent guest on Fox News, Fox Business Network, CNN, and MSNBC. Roger has also been quoted or featured in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, BusinessWeek, and The New York Times, among many other publications. His new book ” UNCONSTITUTIONAL: Our Founding Fathers Rejected FREE TRADE And So Should We,” was printed in January 2020.

For 25 years, WND has boldly brought you the news that really matters. If you appreciate our Christian journalists and their uniquely truthful reporting and analysis, please help us by becoming a WND Insider!

Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@wndnewscenter.org.

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A recent poll of registered voters found that 83% believe American taxpayer dollars spent on U.S. infrastructure should be spent on American-made products.

Unfortunately, special interests that oppose the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that dictates new infrastructure, including iron, steel, electric vehicle chargers, and broadband fiber-optic cable must be “Made in America” are trying to find ways to allow importers to get a piece of the action. We can’t let that happen.

It’s time to act and let your lawmakers know that U.S. tax dollars should go to support and bolster U.S.-based supply chains. If we have learned anything from the recent pandemic, it’s that supply chains need to be located within our national borders.
The Alliance for American Manufacturing has established a short web-based form that you can use to encourage your legislators to fully enforce the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s “Build America, Buy America” requirements.

Take just a few minutes here to tell your representatives that American factory workers should be employed to make necessary improvements to America’s crumbling roads and bridges, not to mention our fragile electric electrical grid, railways, and water systems.

Somewhere in our American journey, we lost our national ambition to invest in America. We allowed our first-rate developed country to fall into disrepair. At the same time, China advanced while we stood still and it pulled ahead of us in certain areas, erecting the largest network of high-speed rail. Europe built the longest tunnel, and the Middle East turned a barren desert into global air hubs, spurring economic growth.

Over 42% of the 617,000 bridges across America are at least 50 years old, and 7.5% of them are deemed structurally deficient. Our nation’s bridge repair backlog demands $125 billion. Since American workers are the only workers who pay taxes to America, U.S. taxpayer dollars should be spent on domestic materials crafted by American workers. Establishing such a common-sense policy will help us develop supply chains where they don’t exist or are deficient.

We certainly don’t want China-built or China-financed infrastructure projects in the United States. According to January 20, 2023, Wall Street Journal article, China has been severely criticized by several foreign leaders for its lending practices. Economists point to programs that have contributed to debt crises in Sri Lanka and Zambia – countries that have few options to repay the loans. The largest-ever infrastructure project in Ecuador revealed thousands of cracks in a $2.7 billion hydroelectric plant, raising concerns that Ecuador’s most significant source of power could break down. An engineer at the University of San Francisco in Quito said, “We could lose everything…and we don’t know if it could be tomorrow or in six months.”

A power generation company in Uganda has identified over 500 Chinese-built construction defects in a Nile River hydropower plant. The $567 million plan was financed through a $480 million loan courtesy of the Export-Import Bank of China.

America’s independence relies on founding values like homegrown self-sufficiency and self-reliance. Communist-led countries like China should never be relied upon. In his farewell address, George Washington, the father of American independence, warned us against foreign entanglements, saying, “There can be no greater error than to expect or calculate upon real favours from Nations.”

We need to keep America’s workers working, earning good wages, paying sufficient taxes, and reaping the benefits that come from the dignity of work.

Signing the Alliance for American Manufacturing petition is a great way to ensure our representatives hear from us and stay on track. “Buy America” policies and keeping China in check are two of the few truly bipartisan issues that those from both political parties and independents can agree upon.

Make your voice heard. It’s the American thing to do.

About Roger Simmermaker

Roger Simmermaker has written multiple books on buying American and trade policy since 1996, and has been a frequent guest on Fox News, Fox Business Network, CNN, and MSNBC. Roger has also been quoted or featured in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, BusinessWeek, and The New York Times, among many other publications. His new book ” UNCONSTITUTIONAL: Our Founding Fathers Rejected FREE TRADE And So Should We,” was printed in January 2020.

For 25 years, WND has boldly brought you the news that really matters. If you appreciate our Christian journalists and their uniquely truthful reporting and analysis, please help us by becoming a WND Insider!

Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@wndnewscenter.org.

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When Airbus was found guilty of bribery related to the sale of helicopters, satellites, and commercial aircraft to Libya and Kazakhstan, which mainly occurred between 2006 and 2011, French prosecutors said the settlement agreement was “unprecedented” at the time.

Unprecedented no more.

In November 2022, Airbus SE agreed to pay €15.9 million ($16.5 million) to end French probes into allegations of corruption tied to foreign sales campaigns in Libya and Kazakhstan, after a record (and unprecedented) nearly $4 billion bribery settlement almost three years ago.

The worst part is that Airbus’ campaign of corruption ran across the world, involving bribes and the false reporting of information for over five years to obtain valuable licenses to export U.S. military technology. The fraudulent scheme offered to pay bribes to foreign (including Chinese) officials with the goal of acquiring and retaining business, including secret deals to sell aircraft.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, this was a massive, multi-year scheme that, in particular, harmed American interests involving sensitive U.S. defense technology as well as other national security interests.

The U.S. Department of Justice issued a sobering statement: “Through bribes, Airbus allowed rampant corruption to invade the U.S. system. Additionally, Airbus falsely reported information about its conduct to the U.S. government for more than five years in order to gain valuable licenses to export U.S. military technology. This case exemplifies the ability of our prosecutors and law enforcement to work with our foreign counterparts to ensure that corruption around the world is prevented and punished at the highest levels. (emphasis added in italics)

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The resulting national security implications for America are staggering since the global threats that the United States are now facing are greater today than they have ever been.

In light of repeated and unprecedented bribery and fraud schemes that have damaged U.S. national security, European-owned Airbus SE should be barred from receiving any future U.S. government contracts. We should not be sending U.S. tax dollars to foreign companies that have such disregard for our national security.

You would think European firms like Airbus would regard the United States as an ally and conduct themselves accordingly.

U.S. allies should never engage in the payment of bribes to government officials, as well as non-governmental airline executives in China and multiple other countries, which included Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Indonesia, and Ghana.

It has also been widely reported that former French President Nicolas Sarkozy received financial support during his 2007 political campaign from Libya’s leader Muammar Gaddafi. Libyan Arab Airlines ordered fifteen Airbus aircraft that same year.

Both foreign-owned Airbus and American-owned defense firms have touted their planes’ potential to perform advanced aerial refueling operations.

In the realm of commercial aircraft, however, we must understand the importance of a strong and successful American competitor to Airbus. As the Wall Street Journal documented on March 23, 2022, even though production began outside Shanghai in 2018, 737 jets are fitted and painted in Renton, Wash., where the 737 is built. Airbus, however, manufactures jets in Tianjin, China.

Our U.S. military needs every boost possible from the U.S. government and American tax dollars, which large American-owned defense companies pay in part through a tax rate above 25% while manufacturing aircraft in the United States.

According to a December 2021 Air Force Times article, our U.S. Air Force needed an additional 1,650 pilots. These Air Force pilots and all members of our U.S. military are funded by U.S. taxpayer dollars. Now is not the time to disinvest in our U.S. companies, U.S. military, and national defense by withholding U.S. government or U.S. taxpayer support.

Bad actions by foreign-owned companies that seek to access America’s market for profit and gain come with consequences. When the U.S. Constitution says we are “to form a more perfect Union,” it wasn’t talking about the European Union. We must continue to secure the American market for the American producer.

About Roger Simmermaker

Roger Simmermaker has written multiple books on buying American and trade policy since 1996, and has been a frequent guest on Fox News, Fox Business Network, CNN, and MSNBC. Roger has also been quoted or featured in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, BusinessWeek, and The New York Times, among many other publications. His new book ” UNCONSTITUTIONAL: Our Founding Fathers Rejected FREE TRADE And So Should We,” was printed in January 2020.

For 25 years, WND has boldly brought you the news that really matters. If you appreciate our Christian journalists and their uniquely truthful reporting and analysis, please help us by becoming a WND Insider!

Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@wndnewscenter.org.

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The previous made-in-America holiday gift guide was so well received that I wrote another article with more American-made ideas.

A recent Morning Consult survey found that 76% of U.S. consumers prefer to buy American-made products over foreign products. So, if you are one of that 76%, I hope you will find this article helpful.

See these companies:

http://www.wiffle.com/

Sometimes we forget about the classic toys that many (like me) likely grew up with. The traditional Wiffle Bat and Wiffle Ball are still made in the USA after all these years. Word has it the Wiffle Ball won’t break windows should it veer off course. The Wiffle Ball, discovered in 1953, was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2017.

https://vermontbowl.com

The Vermont Bowl Company has American-made wooden bowls of just about every shape and size you could imagine. They have kitchen essentials like wooden plates, Lazy Susans, cutting boards, and personalization laser engraving. And, of course, they offer varieties of maple syrup, which the state of Vermont is famous for. You can also visit the company store in the Wilmington, Vermont, area, which is open seven days a week.

https://lamsonproducts.com

Lamson has been in business since 1837 and features several American-made knives, such as those for carving & slicing, fish, fillet & boning, and paring & trimming. You’ll also find steak knives, Santoku & Nakiri knives, BBQ tools, kitchen tool sets, knife sets, spatulas & turners, choppers & cleavers, chef’s knives, and much more. They even have what they affectionately call ‘Granny tools’ (the ones Grandma used to use). Check the sale page for special discounts.

https://www.greentoys.com

You don’t have to be a severe environmentalist advocate to appreciate the safety and American-made quality that comes with Green Toys. They offer a wide assortment of toys in categories like Baby & Toddler and Bath & Water play, which include dump trucks, tugboats, fire trucks, submarines, airplanes, wagons, block sets, and tractors. You get the idea.

https://darntough.com

Check out the family-owned sock company that will replace your socks free of charge if you wear them out. Darn Tough has more types of socks than you could probably imagine, including hiking, running, ski & snowboarding, hunting, work, tactical, and even dress socks.

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https://vermontglove.com

Vermont Glove doesn’t mess around when it comes to quality. Yes, you’ll pay more for these goat leather, exceptionally high-performing work gloves, mittens, and liners, which have been hand-sewn in Vermont since 1920, but it’s well worth it. Their net-zero factory uses 100% renewable energy to support local community initiatives. Glove care accessories, like leather conditioner and beeswax waterproofing, will allow your gloves to stand the test of time.

https://www.outdoornativitysets.com

This company is based in Ocoee, Florida, not far from where I reside in Orlando, Forida, and offers nativity sets and figures (including angels, wise men, shepherds, and a variety of animals), yard art, yard signs, window décor, and more.

www.tftwood.com

Veteran-owned TFTWood is based in Eureka, Montana, and makes a wide variety of U.S.-made ornaments, cutting boards, butcher blocks, chef cutlery, wooden salad utensils, artisan soaps, salad bowl with servers, wine racks, and wine holders. If you have cats, as we do, you can especially appreciate wood ornaments. These master woodworkers and carpenters also make custom luxury furniture.

https://www.anythingdoughs.com

Based in Fall Creek, Wisconsin, Anything Dough’s has been a family-owned and operated business for over 40 years. They make hundreds of ornaments themed for boys, girls, sports & hobbies, angels, weddings, pets & animals, superheroes, snowmen, babies, and bears.

https://www.estwing.com/

Estwing is a well-known brand of hammers, axes, knives, and pry bars. You might have seen them at your local hardware store. The USA-made quality is top-notch.

www.nordicware.com

Nordic Ware makes American bakeware, cookware, kitchenware, microwave, and grillware. Check out their sale section for products with special discounts and take a video tour of their U.S. factory. The website’s handy store locator helps you find the closest store that carries their products.

www.redcarpetpizza.com

Who wouldn’t mind some of Chicago’s or New York’s most authentic pizza over the holidays? Enjoy classic pizzas delivered to your door from popular pizza establishments like Giordano’s and Gino’s East. No travel is required. Sign up now and get 10% off your first order.

RedCarpet pizzas come partially baked to preserve that authentic New York and Chicago-style taste.

If you are not thrilled with your order, RedCarpet will happily replace your purchase or refund your money, whichever you prefer.

Consumer spending makes up over two-thirds of the U.S. economy, so it’s vitally important that we spend our money on products made here to keep jobs, profits, and tax revenue in the United States. And not just during the holidays but year-round as well.

Here’s Part 1 of the gift guide.

About Roger Simmermaker

Roger Simmermaker has written multiple books on buying American and trade policy since 1996, and has been a frequent guest on Fox News, Fox Business Network, CNN, and MSNBC. Roger has also been quoted or featured in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, BusinessWeek, and The New York Times, among many other publications. His new book ” UNCONSTITUTIONAL: Our Founding Fathers Rejected FREE TRADE And So Should We,” was printed in January 2020.

For 25 years, WND has boldly brought you the news that really matters. If you appreciate our Christian journalists and their uniquely truthful reporting and analysis, please help us by becoming a WND Insider!

Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@wndnewscenter.org.

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If you’re looking for quality American-made bedding made with U.S.-grown cotton, Authenticty50 has you covered every domestic stitch of the way.

Don’t fall for the ads from that bedding company that claims your sheets will get softer and softer over time. All of that is made overseas and even more expensive than the American-made quality you get with Authenticity50.

Authenticity50 has it all:

• Signature Sheets are made from premium, American-grown Supima® cotton. Temperature regulation of their percale weave will help keep you cool in summer and warm in the winter. I have personally ordered the Signature Sheets set in Carolina Gray.
• Essential Cotton Towels are made from thick, plush, and absorbent American-made cotton from family-owned farms. They are woven in Georgia in the same state-of-the-art facility that weaves spa towels for 5-star resorts worldwide.
• Custom Comfort Pillows use CertiPUR-US foam with a zippered side gusset that allows you to remove or add fill to the exact fill level that is right for you. Now that’s a custom pillow! They are sewn by hand in California with South and North Carolina knit fabric.
• Envelope Closure Pillowcases allow you to get up close and personal 365 nights a year with a luxe combination of Percale weave and Supima cotton will make for extra cozy sleep.
• Even though the A50 Duvet Cover can be more expensive to manufacture since it is so carefully sewn by hand in New Jersey, you won’t pay an extra expense to obtain one. These super-soft covers are made of the same luxurious Supima® cotton fabric as the popular Sheet Sets and are sure to make your bed look and feel fabulous.
• A50 Fitted Sheets embody the necessary quality to transform your sleep from scratchy and uncomfortable to a deep and luxurious night’s rest. They are sewn by hand with thick elastic and milled in Georgia using California-grown Supima Cotton.
• A50 Flat Sheets are nice and light, so you’ll sleep cozy in the winter and cool in the summer with the softness and comfort that comes with quality Supima cotton.
• Comfort Temp Duvet inserts use wool as the insulator to keep you cozy. And this wool comforter is made the good old-fashioned way – by hand, utilizing A50’s custom-made cotton ticking fabric and wool from climate-beneficial sheep in California.
• A50’s Heritage Blankets have the distinction of being the 2022 Good Housekeeping® Best Blanket Award Winner! In traditional style, these quality blankets are made with all the best materials – from American-grown cotton and American-spun yarns—100% Seed-to-Stitch® Made in the USA.

When the owners of Authenticity50 realized that America’s textile and sheeting industry had nearly vanished from the U.S., they set out to bring truly American bedding back home. Their quest was about much more than just bed sheets and linens. It was about American jobs, American communities, entire towns across the country, and the values that made the word ‘domestic’ mean something special.

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Years later, A50’s local manufacturing and production process support over 1,000 skilled workers from coast-to-coast. And the supply chain is all right here in America from start to finish.

A50 products are grown in California, woven in Georgia and Maine, sewn in New Jersey, and made in Michigan and California.

All orders qualify for free shipping to the lower 48 states, Hawaii, Alaska, and APO. And if you subscribe today, you’ll get 10% off your first order.

With Authenticity50, it’s tough to beat the dedication to American-made quality, the price (especially compared to those other popular companies that import all of their products), and the benefit to our jobs, workers, and the communities in which they are employed.

About Roger Simmermaker

Roger Simmermaker has written multiple books on buying American and trade policy since 1996, and has been a frequent guest on Fox News, Fox Business Network, CNN, and MSNBC. Roger has also been quoted or featured in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, BusinessWeek, and The New York Times, among many other publications. His new book ” UNCONSTITUTIONAL: Our Founding Fathers Rejected FREE TRADE And So Should We,” was printed in January 2020.

For 25 years, WND has boldly brought you the news that really matters. If you appreciate our Christian journalists and their uniquely truthful reporting and analysis, please help us by becoming a WND Insider!

Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@wndnewscenter.org.

SUPPORT TRUTHFUL JOURNALISM. MAKE A DONATION TO THE NONPROFIT WND NEWS CENTER. THANK YOU!

The holidays always mean gift-giving, which means shopping, which presents an opportunity for patriotic consumers to find and buy American-made products.

If you are still looking for unique American-made gifts for the holidays, then I would recommend that you check out the 2022 Made in America Holiday Gift Guide from The Alliance for American Manufacturing.

The challenge this time of year is a familiar one: how do you locate a suitable gift idea for a family member or loved one that is made in America?

The 2022 Made in America Holiday Gift Guide will definitely provide you with some great ideas, and likely from companies making products in the United States you may have never heard of before. It also makes it likely you’ll be adding a surprise element when your gift recipient realizes that he or she never knew the product or company even existed.

On the website, you’ll find gift ideas from all 50 states, plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, and usually more than one company is listed for each state.

In Arizona, family-owned Lifetime Leather Co. has offered handcrafted authentic American leather products since 2011 that are guaranteed for life.

Northwest Indiana-based Hoosier Bat Company, located in northwest Indiana has made quality baseball bats preferred by players in the Major Leagues for quite a while – three of which are in the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. Hoosier is the “Buy American” alternative to Louisville Slugger, which is now owned by Chinese-based Anta Sports Products Ltd. as of 2018. Anta Sports also owns Wilson tennis rackets and Atomic skis.

MSmade (www.mymsmade.com) is a Mississippi-based, women-owned company that makes affordable and giftable jewelry, including handcrafted earrings made of 14-carat gold. Unique designs include Swarovski crystals or Swarovski pearls.

Missouri is home to American Toyworks, which makes wooden block sets of heirloom quality designed to encourage play and creativity. The company also makes kid-appropriate furniture and dollhouses. The brand is part of Traditions in Woodworking Inc., which makes custom cabinets and furniture. The Show Me State is also home to Henschel Hat Company, which offers a large selection of American-made bucket hats, cowboy hats, and more.

The Rocky Mountains of Northwest Montana are where family-run Alpine Baby Co. makes made-to-order organic clothing, knit winter hats, moccasins, toys, teethers, art prints, and more for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers.

New Hampshire resident and founder of Leotard Boutique Melanie Isett used her 16 years of dance training and a career in merchandising to make quality and affordable 100% Made in America leotards. Prices range from $12.50 to $23 for leotards and skirts in 23 colors. All fabric, elastic, and thread are sourced from U.S. manufacturers, and the clothing is dyed, cut, and sewn right here in America.

New Jersey-based Cra-Z-Art makes several arts products including finger paint, pencils, and puzzles in the United States. It is especially difficult to find puzzles today that are not made in China.

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Before Tom Murdough founded Ohio-based, veteran-owned toymaker Simplay3 in 2016, he had already created the famous Little Tikes toy brand. Four years later, Murdough was inducted into the Toy Industry Hall of Fame. All Simplay3 products like slides, playhouses, water tables, and booster chairs are designed in and made in the U.S.A.

Hometown, Pennsylvania, is home to outdoor furniture and home and garden products maker Highwood USA. The company’s Outdoor Living products are ultra-low maintenance and made with incredibly durable high-grade poly. Poly is a realistic alternative to natural wood and is designed to stay outside all year.

Emsco Group also makes poly furniture, including home & dorm essentials and ventilated rack systems. The company also makes winter products like sleds, snowboards, shovels, and scrapers.

Orange Cat Candle Co. hails from Rhode Island and gets its name from the feral cat that founder Samantha Lebeau adopted in 2015, right around the time she started making candles in her kitchen. Orange Cat offers several holiday-themed candles. Its popular Apple Harvest Candle is infused with essential oils like cinnamon, orange, cedarwood nutmeg, and clove. My wife just made an order of candles for the holidays.

Inspired by his German roots, South Dakota resident and master tinsmith Karl-Josef Schmidt of Dakota Tin Works creates stunning art and authentic tinware, including pierced tin lanterns, old-fashioned twisted tin icicles, and Christmas ornaments with a modern twist. The company sources high-quality tinplate made in Chicago and Pennsylvania.

Lastly is Utah-based jewelry maker Lashbrook Designs, which specializes in men’s rings and wedding bands. The wedding ring I wear daily was made in America by Lashbrook Designs in 2016. The company started 20 years ago in a Utah garage, and today it’s an award-winning brand. I’m not surprised. The company’s state-of-the-art facility specializes in using contemporary metals like titanium, Damascus steel, and carbon fiber. I am happy to recommend it personally.

An honorable mention not mentioned in the guide is Bollman Hat Company, the oldest hat maker in America. The company was founded on Main Street in Adamstown, PA, in a former whiskey distillery by George Bollman in 1868. Bollman also boasts that it still operates America’s oldest hat factory, which features wooden floors, catwalks joining buildings, an underground tunnel, and a barn built in 1809. Bollman’s skilled and dedicated employee-owners make the world’s best wool felt, straw, fur felt, and knit hats.

For custom hand-made gloves made in the heart of New York City’s Garment District, check out Lucrasia Gloves at www.wingweftgloves.com. I have been in contact with the owner of this company for a couple of decades, and the dedication to quality is top-notch.

America is chock-full of American-made choices if you know where to look. It’s more important than ever to keep our money in America, especially not sending it to China or other foreign adversaries.

About Roger Simmermaker

Roger Simmermaker has written multiple books on buying American and trade policy since 1996, and has been a frequent guest on Fox News, Fox Business Network, CNN, and MSNBC. Roger has also been quoted or featured in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, BusinessWeek, and The New York Times, among many other publications. His new book ” UNCONSTITUTIONAL: Our Founding Fathers Rejected FREE TRADE And So Should We,” was printed in January 2020.

For 25 years, WND has boldly brought you the news that really matters. If you appreciate our Christian journalists and their uniquely truthful reporting and analysis, please help us by becoming a WND Insider!

Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@wndnewscenter.org.

SUPPORT TRUTHFUL JOURNALISM. MAKE A DONATION TO THE NONPROFIT WND NEWS CENTER. THANK YOU!

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By Roger Simmermaker

American Made Baby Products is a mom-owned retailer of high-quality, USA-made baby items. At www.americanmadebaby.com you’ll find over 100 American-made baby products.

As a first-time mom, the owner spent several hours researching baby products and quickly found the market was dominated by foreign-made products. And since most large companies have factories located all over the world, you often don’t know where manufactured baby items are made until you receive them.

At American Made Baby Products, you’ll find baby clothes, blankets, toys (including bath toys), pacifiers, books, pillows and bottles. You’ll also find several organic baby products including shorts, shirts, blankets, onesies, gowns, hats, mittens, leggings, bibs, and fitted crib sheets.

If you want to avoid Chinese-made insoles, stay away from Dr. Scholl’s insoles, and buy ENER-GEL insoles instead. ENER-GEL is family-owned, American-owned, and American-made. ENER-GEL insoles can be purchased here by visiting my USA Shop.

Back in 2013, Walmart announced it was planning on stocking its shelves with $50 billion worth of American-made merchandise over the next decade while hiring 100,000 veterans. It’s too bad that truly patriotic American companies like ENER-GEL are left out of Wal-Mart’s American-made product selection.

ENER-GEL insoles used to be carried at Walmart, and they were for 18 years until Walmart abruptly discontinued the domestic producer. Unfortunately, Walmart carries Chinese-made Dr. Scholl’s instead.

Like ENER-GEL, Allett is a brand that I love and use every day. The craftsmanship and quality of Allett wallets are second to none.

Allett wallets can hold a serious amount of cash and cards. One cash pocket is deep and the one on the other side of the separator is not, reducing the thickness of your banknotes inside.

I have exclusively used Allett wallets for over 15 years, and I’m only on my second one. My first was a leather wallet, and my second one is a lighter nylon wallet.

On your initial visit to their website, you can sign up for 10% off your first order, and be the first to know about special events, new products, and promotions.

Shipping in the United States is free when you spend $75 or more. Other than that, standard shipping with tracking is only $4.00 (flat rate) per order.

What do you do when you experience chapped lips or need lip balm? Go out and buy the same old Chapstick you’ve always used? What if I told you there was something better, from a small American company with a great track record (in business since 2014)? Serious Lip Balm is that company.

At seriouslipbalm.com you’ll find skin care, lip care, moisturizers, and even products for your pet. And Serious is also from a small town in middle America (which happens to be my hometown of Jacksonville, Illinois). I’ve never met with the owners of the company, but I hope to in my travels in the future because my wife and I like and use their products.

It’s funny thing that the rubber duck was invented in America, but only one company makes them in America – Celebriducks. I was graciously sent a couple of samples by the owner (I like to see and feel the products that I write about) and the quality is what you would expect from an American-made product.

Many industries originated in America, only to be offshored to other countries. But Craig Wolfe, president of CelebriDucks (www.celebriducks.com), has single-handedly brought the rubber duck industry from overseas back to the United States.

Craig Wolfe’s CelebriDucks has become the top custom duck manufacturer in the world – even exporting them to China!

Not all CelebriDucks are made in the USA as the migration back to America is gradual, but you can easily find the ones that are made in the U.S.A. here on their Made in America page

It’s great to continue to buy American from the established American-owned companies we already know and love. But it’s even better to support other smaller American companies making products in the U.S.A. that most folks don’t always know about.

About Roger Simmermaker

Roger Simmermaker has written multiple books on buying American and trade policy since 1996, and has been a frequent guest on Fox News, Fox Business Network, CNN, and MSNBC. Roger has also been quoted or featured in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, BusinessWeek, and The New York Times, among many other publications. His new book ” UNCONSTITUTIONAL: Our Founding Fathers Rejected FREE TRADE And So Should We,” was printed in January 2020.

EDITOR’S NOTE: With what has been called the “Sovietization” of the Biden administration – including the shocking criminalization of dissent and massive weaponization of the FBI against political opponents – America is being increasingly compared to a third-world or communist dictatorship. Yet America still has one sacred institution that dictatorships from Zimbabwe to communist China don’t have: ELECTIONS. And in reality, there is no reason, despite the regime’s all-out efforts at election rigging, that the tens of millions of decent, right-thinking American voters cannot stop the Biden administration’s ever-expanding madness this November. For that reason, the September issue of WND’s critically acclaimed monthly Whistleblower magazine insightfully covers the most electrifying and important races, illuminates the biggest issues, reveals how the latest federal takeover of elections actually violates the law, and much more. Looking forward to 2024, the issue also highlights why, to quote the chairman of a major think tank, Donald Trump “is the most towering political figure in living memory” and the person “most fit to lead” today’s America. It’s all in “STOPPING THE MADNESS: A MIDTERM ELECTION GUIDE FOR VOTERS WHO LOVE AMERICA.”

For 25 years, WND has boldly brought you the news that really matters. If you appreciate our Christian journalists and their uniquely truthful reporting and analysis, please help us by becoming a WND Insider!

Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@wndnewscenter.org.

SUPPORT TRUTHFUL JOURNALISM. MAKE A DONATION TO THE NONPROFIT WND NEWS CENTER. THANK YOU!

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We all know that we can encourage buying American through our purchases of American products, but how can we encourage it beyond that?

The answer? Tariffs on imports. Why? Because they not only make American-made products more price competitive but also provide much-needed revenue to fund things essential to every American: our military and national defense, Social Security, fire and police protection, Medicare, roads & bridges, public schools & hospitals.

I’m not suggesting support for any political party or president. Biden has largely continued the Trump tariffs with a few exceptions and even doubled tariffs (temporarily) on Canadian lumber.

According to Politifact.org, U.S. manufacturing gains under Trump’s tariffs before the pandemic totaled 450,000 (237,000 were lost after the pandemic). According to Bloomberg Businessweek, the continued (mostly) Trump tariffs under Biden brought back 67,000 manufacturing jobs lost due to the pandemic – even with higher inflation.

There are many myths surrounding the impact (or lack thereof) of tariffs, which need to be debunked if we are to maximize our ability to bolster the Buy American cause.

The first myth is that many consumers think they must always pay for the tariffs on the imported products they buy – which we shouldn’t be buying anyway. However, this thinking doesn’t line up with the facts.

General Motors didn’t raise the sticker price of its imported Buick after 25% tariffs were imposed on China in 2018. GM was saving enough money using cheaper labor in China to build the automobile and could easily absorb the tariff.

As detailed in the Wall Street Journal in November 2018, BorgWarner Inc., which primarily sells parts to automakers, expected tariff and inflation costs of $20 million but absorbed 100 percent of the costs.

The second myth is that if we raise tariffs, other countries will retaliate and raise their own tariffs, and then we all lose, so what’s the point? The truth is that some countries retaliate, and some don’t. America is strong enough to always to do the right things for the right reasons and accept the consequences.

Let’s look at potential retaliation this way. Let’s say you’re a parent with two daughters who attend the same school, and some kid starts bullying one of them (let’s call her Ally). She comes home…really upset… and asks you to help her. Would any parent ever say, “Hey, I’m sorry, Ally, but I won’t because if I stand up for you, the bully might retaliate by taking it out on your sister next. So, I’m sorry, Ally, but you’re on your own. You’ll have to make do.”

It’s the same with tariff retaliation. If we don’t stand up for our country with tariffs, countries like China will continue to push us around and call all the shots. And we’ll continue to do nothing and suffer the consequences as a result…just like poor little Ally at school.

A third myth is that if the U.S. raises tariffs on imports from cheap labor countries, manufacturing will just move to a different one, resembling a game of Whack-a-mole, so what’s the point? Well, here’s the point. Should the police stop rooting out drugs, gangs, and crime in bad neighborhoods if they think it will just move to another area, resembling the same game of Whack-a-mole? Of course not.

Because of the tariffs we put on China in 2018, which make our American-made products more competitive, six percent of those jobs returned to the United States. It didn’t seem to matter if the manufacturing cost in America was higher.

This brings me to myth four – tariffs always make imports more expensive. After a brief spike in prices, the 2018 prices on steel and aluminum were lower than before the tariffs. In the meantime, previously closed domestic mills re-opened, and our trade deficit decreased due to fewer imports. On April 5, 2018, The Wall Street Journal published an article entitled Despite New Tariffs, Aluminum Is Actually Cheaper.

Tariffs have another Buy American benefit few realize. U.S. import tariffs also make domestic producers more competitive where consumers have no choice between buying American-made or foreign-made products.

An April 22, 2022 Businessweek article detailed how Mexican restaurant chain Chipotle was considering sourcing more packaging domestically as freight costs continue to soar, especially for imported goods.

What about the aluminum foil used by chocolate and other candy wrappings, yogurt, medicine containers, takeout trays, and other food containers (restaurant, retail, and wholesale)? Tariffs on imports can convince them to consider sourcing from America.

Tariffs were the original builder of our country’s Buy American policy. The first major bill George Washington signed after approving the Great Seal of the United States was a five percent tariff on imports for the encouragement and protection of manufacturing in America.

Abraham Lincoln famously said, If we purchase a ton of steel rails from England for twenty dollars, then we have the rails and England the money. But if we buy a ton of steel rails from an American for twenty-five dollars, then America has the rails and the money both.

Honest Abe also said The tariff is the cheaper system…while by the direct tax system, the land must be literally covered with assessors and collectors, going forth like swarms of Egyptian locusts…

With the direct tax system, American citizens will be taxed precisely one dollar if our government wants to raise one dollar of revenue. Tariffs are an indirect tax, allowing the United States to often collect revenue without taxing American citizens, just like we did in the example of the imported Buick from China. In fact, from 1789 to the Civil War in 1914, the U.S. tariffs on imports provided 50 percent to 85 percent of all revenue required to run the federal government. It sure beats direct taxes on Americans that Abe Lincoln told us to avoid.

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt, whose faces are on Mt. Rushmore, supported both high tariffs and Buy American policies. We should do the same.

About Roger Simmermaker

Roger Simmermaker has written multiple books on buying American and trade policy since 1996, and has been a frequent guest on Fox News, Fox Business Network, CNN, and MSNBC. Roger has also been quoted or featured in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, BusinessWeek, and The New York Times, among many other publications. His new book ” UNCONSTITUTIONAL: Our Founding Fathers Rejected FREE TRADE And So Should We,” was printed in January 2020.

EDITOR’S NOTE: With what has been called the “Sovietization” of the Biden administration – including the shocking criminalization of dissent and massive weaponization of the FBI against political opponents – America is being increasingly compared to a third-world or communist dictatorship. Yet America still has one sacred institution that dictatorships from Zimbabwe to communist China don’t have: ELECTIONS. And in reality, there is no reason, despite the regime’s all-out efforts at election rigging, that the tens of millions of decent, right-thinking American voters cannot stop the Biden administration’s ever-expanding madness this November. For that reason, the September issue of WND’s critically acclaimed monthly Whistleblower magazine insightfully covers the most electrifying and important races, illuminates the biggest issues, reveals how the latest federal takeover of elections actually violates the law, and much more. Looking forward to 2024, the issue also highlights why, to quote the chairman of a major think tank, Donald Trump “is the most towering political figure in living memory” and the person “most fit to lead” today’s America. It’s all in “STOPPING THE MADNESS: A MIDTERM ELECTION GUIDE FOR VOTERS WHO LOVE AMERICA.”

For 25 years, WND has boldly brought you the news that really matters. If you appreciate our Christian journalists and their uniquely truthful reporting and analysis, please help us by becoming a WND Insider!

Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@wndnewscenter.org.

SUPPORT TRUTHFUL JOURNALISM. MAKE A DONATION TO THE NONPROFIT WND NEWS CENTER. THANK YOU!

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BYD is a China-based EV automobile company and stands for “Build Your Dreams.” The “dream” of this Chinese company to enter the U.S. market should never become a reality. Unfortunately, famous U.S. investor Warren Buffet has heavily backed it financially, hoping it – rather than an American-based auto company – will one day become the world’s leader in EV sales.

This unpatriotic investment by multi-billionaire Buffet, who would be more than financially fine without it, is somewhat ironic when you consider that he once criticized U.S. trade deficits in a 2003 article. Our U.S. trade deficit with China would only worsen if BYD could export its Chinese-made cars to America.

Even more confusing when considering Mr. Buffet’s supposed commitment to the United States, when the China Investment Corp., which is China’s largest sovereign-wealth fund, used almost $800 billion worth of its assets to acquire a Silicon Valley-focused venture fund, Buffet said such investments would result in the U.S. being “colonized by purchase rather than conquest.”

As of August 31, 2022, Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway sold 1.33 million BYD shares (BYD is listed in Chinese-controlled Hong Kong), reducing Berkshire’s stake in the Chinese company to 218.7 million shares from 220 million – a small percentage, to be sure. However, we should call for Buffet to divest all his shares in the Chinese company and support American-based companies instead. It’s the patriotic thing to do for any billionaire who professes to love America.

Warren Buffet should make a choice. He can be a billionaire who invests in Chinese companies or a billionaire who doesn’t. Either way, he will remain a billionaire.

The United States has allowed Warren Buffet to invest and prosper immensely. He surely does not need to invest in a communist country and its state-backed companies that seek to undermine American companies and America’s desire to lead an upcoming and vital industry. Dominance by China in any industry has national security implications.

BYD not only manufactures vehicles. It also produces its own batteries and semiconductors. It is now the world’s third-largest producer of EV batteries, commanding 14% of the international market. That puts the company behind South Korean-owned LG Energy Solution Ltd. and another Chinese rival – Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL). BYD already supplies EV batteries to Toyota Motor Corp., and Tesla will reportedly use BYD batteries for its Model Y.

Patriotic American consumers should avoid buying EVs with BYD-supplied batteries.

China’s BYD Co. is not well-known in the United States, even though it produces electric buses in Lancaster, California. But BYD is huge in its homeland, and now it wants to be huge in the United States. We should not allow that to happen.

On August 31, 2022, a Bloomberg Businessweek magazine article detailed that in China, “Domestic automakers accounted for almost 80% of EV sales through the first seven months of 2022, according to data compiled by the China Passenger Car Association (PCA) … long-established BYD Co., backed by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., is the runaway leader…”

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If we are to remain true to our country’s founding principles of self-sufficiency, self-reliance, and independence, we should not be contributing to the prosperity of a company that wishes to make us dependent on products overseas – especially one based in a communist country that receives subsidies from a communist government.

BYD is the third-largest producer of EV batteries in the world and not only competes with U.S.-owned Tesla (among other brands) but is also a supplier to Tesla, creating a unique rival-partner scenario.

Warren Buffett should sell his entire BYD stake and invest in U.S.-owned automakers. I don’t care if it’s GM, Ford, Tesla, or any other smaller U.S.-based EV startup. Supporting U.S.-owned automakers would preclude foreign-owned companies like China-based Volvo, China-based Polestar, Lucid (61% owned by Saudi Arabia), and Vietnam-based Vinfast, even if they produce a portion of their cars in the United States.

Multi-billionaire Warren Buffett has made plenty of money on his Chinese investment. It is time for him to be true to his concern for U.S. trade deficits and invest in auto companies that are U.S.-based and make most of their vehicles in the United States.

The best way to make an impact is to send Warren Buffet a letter addressed to:

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
3555 Farnam Street
Suite 1440
Omaha, NE 68131

I would suggest writing “Re: Warren Buffet’s Chinese investments!” somewhere on the envelope. Warren Buffet may not read your letter personally, but his staff will pass on the information. The Berkshire Hathaway e-mail address is berkshire@berkshirehathaway.com.

BYD is free to build its Chinese dreams as it sees fit. But it should do that somewhere other than the U.S. and without the assistance of the United States or its billionaire investors that call it home.

About Roger Simmermaker

Roger Simmermaker has written multiple books on buying American and trade policy since 1996, and has been a frequent guest on Fox News, Fox Business Network, CNN, and MSNBC. Roger has also been quoted or featured in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, BusinessWeek, and The New York Times, among many other publications. His new book ” UNCONSTITUTIONAL: Our Founding Fathers Rejected FREE TRADE And So Should We,” was printed in January 2020.

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If you’re going to be one of the 200 million Americans planning to celebrate July 4th weekend with a cookout or picnic, then Billy Twang has the best dry rubs to help make a memorable grilling experience.

Billy Twang established its humble beginnings in 1992 and makes all of its Texas dry rubs in America, which is patriotically consistent with celebrating our country’s independence.

At www.BillyTwang.com, you can choose between six super-delicious dry rubs that will make a memorable grilling experience.

Old No. 3 is the rub that started it all and is known as the “classic Texas dalmatian mix.” Old No. 3 is your go-to all-purpose seasoning for barbecuing, cooking, or grilling. A humble “hat trick” combination of salt, pepper, and granulated garlic is simply the finest, considering the texture and quality of the ingredients. You’ll notice modest hints of Fleur de Sel, Tellicherry Pepper, and Garlic Powder.

Punch rub packs robust flavors with top-notch ingredients sourced from Mexico, France, and India. Punch is a famous rub to sprinkle on chicken breast, pork tenderloin and chops, salads, and vegetables. Not for the faint of heart, this spicy companion includes Crushed Chili Peppers (such as Chipotle Pepper), Fleur de Sel, Tellicherry Pepper, Roasted Garlic Powder, Cilantro, and Oregano.

One of the favorites of my wife and I is the Big Dry Rub. It is just a tad on the sweet end (but not too sweet) and is full of savory and peppery flavors from a romantic blend of old-world spices. Spread the top-quality sourced ingredients on trout, salmon, or pork/pork tenderloin. We used some of our Texas-size 6.2-ounce bags of Big on chicken breast. The flavors from Dark Brown Sugar, Fleur de Sel, Tellicherry Pepper, Aleppo Pepper, Urfa Pepper, and Garlic Powder definitely come through.

Our other personal favorite is the Geaux Rub. Maybe it’s because we live in Florida, but we love the smoky, Southern heat combined with the classic Cajun spice that would warm the souls of folks in nearby Louisiana. Perfectly garlicky for gumbo, grits, shrimp, and chicken. I think part another reason it’s a favorite for us is because of the cayenne pepper.

If beef is on your barbecue Billy Twang recommends the robust flavor of Black Rub. An easy crowd-pleaser for family, friends, and neighbors, the balance of Black’s ingredients (Fleur de Sel, Tellicherry Pepper, Espresso, Dark Brown Sugar, Garlic Powder) means your beef and steaks will never be boring.

If grilling chicken or fish is on your list, then Billy Twang’s White Dry Rub might be for you. It is the right combination of white pepper, sea salt, sugar, and other premium white ingredients. White goes on thick and creates a batter-like crust. Spicy, savory, and resembles a ranch dressing dry rub. The long list of ingredients includes Fleur de Sel, White Pepper, Granulated Sugar, Ground Mustard Seed, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Sour Cream Powder (Cream Solids, Cultured Nonfat Milk), Rice Concentrate (anti-caking agent), and Citric Acid.

And right now, Billy Twang is having a 50% off sale for the entire month of July! It’s the best time of the year to get in on the best dry rubs in the business! Seriously, you’re not going to “knock it out of the park” from your backyard using the same spices bought from the same store as your neighbor down the street.

As a satisfied customer myself of the various Billy Twang dry rubs, I can’t imagine you would not be absolutely thrilled with your order. Still, if you aren’t for any reason, the fine folks at Billy Twang will cheerfully replace your purchase or refund your money – your choice.

All U.S. orders receive free ground shipping. If you happen to be ordering internationally, $100 or more qualifies for free ground shipping. No promotional codes are needed. You can even choose Affirm at checkout to make three monthly installments without interest.

For the best Texas-sized dry rubs with the best ingredients around, be sure to check out Billy Twang. Whether your cookout or picnic includes grilling fish, chicken, beef, pork, gumbo, grits, or vegetables, nothing surpasses Billy Twang for quality ingredients.

About Roger Simmermaker

Roger Simmermaker has written multiple books on buying American and trade policy since 1996, and has been a frequent guest on Fox News, Fox Business Network, CNN, and MSNBC. Roger has also been quoted or featured in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, BusinessWeek, and The New York Times, among many other publications. His new book ” UNCONSTITUTIONAL: Our Founding Fathers Rejected FREE TRADE And So Should We,” was printed in January 2020.

For 25 years, WND has boldly brought you the news that really matters. If you appreciate our Christian journalists and their uniquely truthful reporting and analysis, please help us by becoming a WND Insider!

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Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@wndnewscenter.org.

SUPPORT TRUTHFUL JOURNALISM. MAKE A DONATION TO THE NONPROFIT WND NEWS CENTER. THANK YOU!