Originally Posted by
HillRider
It's strictly economics. How much more would you be willing to pay for all of your manufactured goods if they were all made here? Double? Triple? How do we protect our manufacturing base from foreigh competition? Extremely high tariffs would do it but that has a severe down side too. The countries that have raw materials we need would respond in kind. Be careful what you wish for.
If we still made stuff here, more people would be earning better salaries from those jobs, and would be able to afford the stuff made here. Not necessarily relevant to most bicycle parts, but most American made items are still worth the extra cost in what you get in added quality and longevity. Sometimes out of need and sometimes out of desire, the consumer decided cheap-fast-now was the way to go. I think it's mostly consumer choice that has made American manufacturing largely into a boutique industry.