When shopping, I always find it interesting to inspect garments. I especially get a kick out of inspecting at the ones that are designed and created to give that "patriotic feeling" for the consumer. You know the ones... the t-shirts and apparel sold around Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day. I look at the overall design first, then I usually look at the price, then look at the label. I look at the price before the label because usually this will determine what origin I expect to find, and 19 out of 20 times it will say Made in China, Pakistan, India or Bangladesh. Why? Bottom line - profitability for the company as well as lower retail prices for the consumer. Even if you could find someone in America to sit behind a sewing machine for 8 hours a day at the minimum wage of $7.25 hr, it is no comparison to the hourly wage of a garment worker in China ($.86), India ($.51), Pakistan ($.55) or Bangladesh ($.55).
Visit a local Harley store and you're sure to find virtually everything hanging is made overseas. Here is the symbol of American freedom, a company that takes pride in patriotism; a company whose core Customer is the working middle class "blue collar" guy or gal. This same company has moved over 90% of their apparel production overseas, but yet they are the poster child for the American worker?!? From an HD perspective, what better person to spend all that time embroidering the company logo and the Great American Bald Eagle than a Bangladeshi?
What's next - will our military soon choose to source their uniforms overseas because of price? Imagine fighting for freedom in a uniform Made in China!
