United States

Does “Made in America” Still Matter to Consumers?

Published

3 weeks ago

July 19, 2023

Avery Koop

opinions on made in America products

Does “Made in America” Still Matter to Consumers?

Do American citizens care where their products come from? Well, it depends on who you ask.

Over the past few decades, the importance of “Made in America”—labels on products indicating production was done in the U.S.—has ebbed and flowed.

As China has grown into the United States’ economic rival and geopolitical adversary, the distinction between American-made and Chinese-made has resurfaced, even as some products have been mislabeled or locally produced but Chinese-owned.

How do people currently feel? This chart uses survey responses from May 2023 out of Morning Consult, in which a representative sample of 1,000 U.S. adults were questioned on whether they had favorable views of products from U.S. companies using American or Chinese labor and parts.

Who Prefers American-Made?

According to the report, companies that choose to move production state-side will experience reputational gains with American consumers.

In fact, around two-thirds of survey respondents said they regularly sought out products that were “Made in America” during the last year. But there were slight divides in gender (men favored American-made products more) and noticeable divides in generational responses.

Here’s a look at the data on how different demographic groups valued national goods:

Generation	Favorable View of Chinese-Made Products	Favorable View of American-Made Products
Gen Z	41%	45%
Millennials	40%	67%
Gen X	29%	71%
Boomers	12%	83%
U.S. Adults Total	29%	70%

Overall, thee older generations like baby boomers tend to be more patriotic in their purchasing opinions, with Gen Z being the least concerned with Chinese products.

On the political spectrum, both Democrats and Republicans had the exact same share of respondents who favor American-made products at 76%. Comparatively, only 57% of independents favored American-made products, though they also responded least favorably to Chinese-made products at 22%.

One other interesting point to come out of the survey: close to 50% of consumers said they would actually be willing to pay more for American-made products.

The American Goods Market

Looking at responses from U.S. adults overall, large shares of consumers are leaning towards domestic-made goods. Here are some additional insights worth considering:

65% of U.S. adult consumers claimed to sometimes or always buy “Made in America” products intentionally
43% prioritize purchasing American-made products rather than prioritizing other options like quality, sustainability, or affordability
48% are willing to pay higher amounts for U.S.-based products. 39% responded they would pay between 6%-10% more for said products

Overall, it appears that “in-house” goods are more desirable to Americans in the current environment. This also explains why regionalization is becoming more important for companies, whether in terms of reshoring (or onshoring) production back to America, or “nearshoring” to Mexico and closer neighbors.

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Agriculture

Top U.S. Food Imports by Origin Country

This infographic shows the top exporting countries for U.S. food imports, ranging from exotic fruits to meat, oils, spices, and more.

Creator Program

Published

24 hours ago

August 9, 2023

Govind Bhutada

Top U.S. Food Imports by Origin Country

The U.S. is a major producer and exporter of food products, but did you know that it’s also one of the world’s largest food importers?

Due to seasonality and climate, some foods can’t be grown on home soil, at least enough to fulfill consumption demands. Indeed, many familiar grocery items come from other countries.

This infographic from Julie Peasley uses data from the Chatham House Resource Trade Database (CHRTD) to show where the U.S. gets its food from, highlighting the top exporting countries of various imported food items.

The Types of Imported Foods

The U.S. imported around $148 billion worth of agricultural products in 2020, and according to the USDA, this has since risen to $194 billion in 2022.

Around 50% of all U.S. agricultural imports are horticultural products like fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, and more. Other large import categories include sugar and tropical products, meat, grains, and oilseeds.

With that context in mind, we break down each category and highlight the five foods with the largest single-origin import value.

Farm Fresh: Fruit and Vegetable Imports

U.S. fruit and vegetable imports have been on a steady rise since 2000. In fact, between 2011 and 2021, fruits and nuts imports made up 44% of domestic consumption, while 35% of vegetables consumed in the U.S. came from outside the country.

Mexico is by far the largest exporter of fruits and vegetables to the United States.

Fruit or Vegetable	Largest Exporting Country	U.S. Import Value (2020)
Tomatoes	🇲🇽 Mexico	$2.5B
Avocados	🇲🇽 Mexico	$2.1B
Peppers	🇲🇽 Mexico	$1.4B
Bananas	🇬🇹 Guatemala	$1.0B
Strawberries	🇲🇽 Mexico	$897M

The U.S. imported $2.5 billion worth of tomatoes from Mexico in 2020, representing 31% of international tomato trade. Avocados, native to central Mexico, were nearly as popular with $2.1 billion worth of imports.

Generally, the largest exporters of fruits and vegetables to the U.S. are North and South American countries, with products often coming from Guatemala, Chile, Peru, Costa Rica, and Brazil.

Beefed Up: Meat Imports

The U.S. is the world’s largest overall consumer of beef (or bovine meat), and the third-largest per capita consumer at nearly 37.9 kg (84 lbs) per person per year.

Therefore, despite being one of the top producers of beef, the country still imports a lot of it.

Meat	Largest Exporting Country	U.S. Import Value (2020)
Bovine Cuts	🇨🇦 Canada	$1.4B
Bovine Cuts, Frozen	🇳🇿 New Zealand	$839M
Sheep Meat	🇦🇺 Australia	$643M
Swine Hams, Shoulders, and Cuts	🇨🇦 Canada	$559M
Bovine Cuts, Bone In	🇲🇽 Mexico	$449M

Precisely, The U.S. imported $8.7 billion worth of meat in 2020. Canada was the largest source of imported beef, with the U.S. accounting for more than 70% of all Canadian beef exports.

The sources of meat imports are more geographically diverse than fruits and vegetables, with billions of dollars of imports coming from New Zealand and Australia.

Making Waves: Seafood Imports

Despite plenty of coastlines, the U.S. imports 70–85% of all its seafood and accounted for 15% of global seafood imports in 2020 at $21.8 billion.

Frozen shrimp and prawns were the top seafood import, with $1.9 billion worth from India.

Fish and Seafood	Largest Exporting Country	U.S. Import Value (2020)
Shrimp and Prawns, Frozen	🇮🇳 India	$1.9B
Fish Fillet or Meat	🇨🇱 Chile	$1.4B
Fish Fillet or Meat, Frozen	🇨🇳 China	$884M
Lobsters	🇨🇦 Canada	$764M
Crabs, Frozen	🇨🇦 Canada	$719M

The largest source of U.S. seafood imports overall with $3.1 billion total was Canada, which leads in lobster, crab, and whole fish imports. It was followed by Chile at $2.1 billion, primarily for parts of fish (fillet or meat, fresh or chilled).

Other Foods: Oils, Grains, Coffee, and More

There are plenty of other types of foods and agricultural products that the U.S. relies on other countries for. Here are the largest single-origin U.S. food imports for the remaining categories:

Food	Category	Largest Exporting Country	U.S. Import Value (2020)
Canola Oil, Refined	Oils	🇨🇦 Canada	$1.4B
Coffee, Not Roasted	Stimulants/Spices	🇨🇴 Colombia	$1.0B
Cashews, Shelled	Nuts/Seeds/Beans	🇻🇳 Vietnam	$960M
Raw Sugar, Refined	Sweetners	🇲🇽 Mexico	$723M
Rice	Cereals	🇹🇭 Thailand	$713M
Cheese	Dairy	🇮🇹 Italy	$310M

Some of the highest and potentially surprising exports? Imports of refined Canadian canola oil totaled $1.4 billion in 2020, while Vietnam exported a whopping $960 million worth of cashews to America.

A Global Plate: The Diversity of U.S. Food Imports

The amount and value of food imported to the U.S. highlights the diversity of consumer preferences and the importance of global food stocks, considering America is one of the world’s leading food producers.

With countries having to rely on others to satisfy demand for limited production supply or exotic foods, the interconnectedness of the global food system is both vital and delicate.

What’s clear is that the U.S. food plate is indeed a global one, with many foods taking remarkable journeys from farm to fork.