06/17/2020

China Already Has Lost The American Consumer

In recent weeks, interest in "Made in America" has skyrocketed

Politicians and CEOs around the world are gyrating over how to treat Chinese manufacturing after the pandemic. But the American consumer isn’t waiting for them to lead. U.S. shoppers already have begun making their statement with their pocketbooks. Heads of consumer-goods manufacturers and brands should pay attention.

In the past three months, there has been a grassroots uprising of anti-China, pro-American purchasing behavior. Sales of our American-made Liberty Tabletop flatware, for example, are up by about 130 percent, year-on-year, after peaking at a 220 percent increase; before the pandemic they were trending up about 20 percent. Add the “Buy American” attaboys we are getting in e-mails and social-media comments from dozens of customers, and the message is clear.

This phenomenon isn’t defined or confined by party and lives outside of the extremities of identity politics that we’re experiencing today. It is broad-based and nonpartisan. It includes those who are frightened by the job losses created during the pandemic and the lockdown of our economy and who want to support American manufacturing; those who newly see the Chinese government as a clear economic, political and military threat; Americans who’ve always been skeptical of the Communist regime in Beijing; extremely aware citizens who have become alarmed by our nation’s dependence on Chinese-made pharmaceuticals and defense equipment; and millions of consumers who now simply blame the Chinese leadership for allowing, then heedlessly spreading, and then cynically covering up the domestic impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

Please select this link to read the complete article from Chief Executive.