[southernnorthcarolina]

Until and unless U.S. consumers decide they care where their clothes (and other items) come from, U.S. manufacturers will continue to suffer, or go out of business.

I'm as guilty as anyone. Though this probably falls into the "too much information" area, here's an inventory, by country of origin, of what I'm wearing at this moment:

Tee shirt: Lesotho
Cargo shorts: Bangladesh
Belt: China
Boxers: Indonesia
Socks: no idea
Workboots: Czech Republic

I can't say I'm proud of this array of garments. But on the other hand, I didn't check the country of origin of any of these items before purchasing them. Should I have? Probably. Would I have paid ten percent more for U.S.manufactured goods, given the chance? Maybe. Twenty percent more? Doubtful. A moot point, in any event.

[Torie]

Proping up low valued industries is not the way to move American workers over time into the jobs with the highest competitive advantage in the world economy. It is Luddite. Government can help with the transition costs for those at the bottom of the pay scale, that need to move on of course.

[AntiGuv]

You inspired me to look!

Sandals: China
Jeans: Mexico
Belt: USA (yes!)
Boxers: Thailand
Shirt: Turkey

Yup, prolly TMI.. =)

[dr_who_2]

A moot point, in any event.

Precisely. So why does our government spend so much taxpayer money and time trying to square circles? It's a damn shame that my t-shirts were made by a bunch of Communist peons. But if China was run like the Czech Republic, U.S. textile manufacturers would still be complaining about "dumping" and people like yourself will sit idly by and wring your hands over it. If the clothing is cheap enough and not flimsy, I'll bloody well buy it unless of course a commitee of kiss-ass politicians, bureaucrats, and unions thinks I shouldn't. As for the US textile companies, if they relied less on cheap labor, "process" innovations like ISO-9000, and whining to politicians, they might have a chance.