Backing the USA

July 4th seems to have come upon us very quickly (yes, I know, it comes the same time every year) but this year has been highlighted with the US soccer team’s success in the World Cup.  Congratulations to them for the grit and perseverance that they exhibited … especially since the odds of them moving beyond the “Group of Death” were so low.

Coupled with their great game against Belgium (and Tim Howard’s game of the Cup … 16 saves in soccer is heroic), the other day I was listening to something and they were talking about companies that manufacturer in the US.

And then I was reading one of the trade publications I receive that had this wrapper promoting some manufacturers in the building materials industry:

And it got me thinking …

• As a distributor, what is the value to you, and to your customers, of doing business with “Made in America” manufacturers?  Does it make a difference to your purchasing department? To your sales organization?
• As a manufacturer, could you identify what products, and % of your products (and sales) are from “Made in America” facilities? Do your salespeople / reps promote it to end-users? To distributors?
• As much as we’d all like to think that customers care, if you actively promoted “Made in America” (and we know some distributors have), would this be enough for customers to prefer one supplier over another if they had the same price or does brand preference outweigh “Made in America”? (we know customers, except maybe the government, don’t want to pay a premium, even if it is nominal.)
• And then, given how much conversation there has been lately regarding “tax inversion” which is driving some mergers & acquisition (this is essentially that business taxes in other countries are lower than the US and companies are making acquisitions and then incorporating in another country to change their corporate domicile and take advantage of lower taxes) – and we won’t mention the names of any distributors or manufacturers who benefit from this – do you, or your customers, care?

Just some food for thought as you celebrate a long weekend and the Fourth of July.

Enjoy your time with your family, your barbecue and the fireworks!