johndark

On the FTC site, the standard is "All or virtually all." I read that to mean that, for example, a speaker manufacturer would need to have a US made cabinet and US-made drivers and crossover, but perhaps could have imported feet or binding posts. https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/complying-made-usa-standard Interestingly, California signed into law a 90% standard. My limited understanding of the issue is that it's probably okay for the state to do that if the goods are only sold in California. But interstate trade is governed by the federal rules, as far as I see it, and so when the goods cross state lines, then it would seem that the FTC could rightly go after the company - fining them or taking some other action. Even though I'm a lifelong Californian, I'm basically ignoring this wrinkle until it sorts itself out. Perhaps the California legislators were just trying to come up with a reasonable definition of the "virtually all" standard that is otherwise not made explicit by the FTC.

Question for the group since this is "Computer Audiophile:" how should I create categories on my site. I see here that the forums break down products into 1) Music Servers 2) DACs 3) Disk Storage 4) Networking 5) Software 6) DSP/Room Correction. If you were looking for American makers of those products, are those the right categories? I'm not sure that there are enough makers in each categor, and I'm not 100% satisfied with the categories I used "digital" "computer" "DAC" "CD/Transport" I'm mainly a vinyl guy, though I have a respectable digital setup, but not optimized for computer listening - I don't even used the USB input of my DAC, so this is a bit outside my expertise, but I'd like it to be relevant to a computer audio user.

As I read the guidelines, they are pretty clear: the manufacturer could NOT say "Made in USA" because not all or virtually all of the value is made in USA. They COULD say "Made in USA of 75% US parts" or "Made in USA of domestic and imported parts" or "Assembled in USA," which doesn't specify the amount. I'm no lawyer, though I know my way around a contract and I'm a guy who loves language and fine distinctions. Any manufacturer shouldn't take my advice as final, but I do think someone who reads the guidelines and my article on them can walk away with a prety good idea about how to interpret them.

That's pretty much how I walked into this, too. Most of my system was made (or assembled) in the US. Had a Canadian DAC from Bryston but that was it (now replaced by a Berkeley Alpha 1). I'll add Empirical Audio to my list. Basically, what I do is look at what the manufacturer claims on their labels (google image search is invaluable) then look at their claims on their site to see if their country of origin claim is plausible since manufacturers often get the claim wrong. For example, one manufacturer rightly touts their outstanding European components, which make up a substantial portion of the value of their product, then claims that their products are unqualified "Made in USA." I would list a company that does this as "Assembled in USA."

This falls under the claim for specific parts and processes The short answer is you list the hardware and software separately, for example: "Router made in Taiwan - Software made in USA" From the FTC page: [h=3]U.S. origin claims for specific processes or parts[/h]Claims that a particular manufacturing or other process was performed in the U.S. or that a particular part was manufactured in the U.S. must be truthful, substantiated, and clearly refer to the specific process or part, not to the general manufacture of the product, to avoid implying more U.S. content than exists. Manufacturers and marketers should be cautious about using general terms, such as "produced," "created" or "manufactured" in the U.S. Words like these are unlikely to convey a message limited to a particular process. Additional qualification probably is necessary to describe a product that is not "all or virtually all" made in the U.S. In addition, if a product is of foreign origin (that is, it has been substantially transformed abroad), manufacturers and marketers also should make sure they satisfy Customs’ markings statute and regulations that require such products to be marked with a foreign country of origin. Further, Customs requires the foreign country of origin to be preceded by "Made in," "Product of," or words of similar meaning when any city or location that is not the country of origin appears on the product. Example: A company designs a product in New York City and sends the blueprint to a factory in Finland for manufacturing. It labels the product "Designed in USA — Made in Finland." Such a specific processing claim would not lead a reasonable consumer to believe that the whole product was made in the U.S. The Customs Service requires the product to be marked "Made in," or "Product of" Finland since the product is of Finnish origin and the claim refers to the U.S. Examples of other specific processing claims are: "Bound in U.S. — Printed in Turkey." "Hand carved in U.S. — Wood from Philippines." "Software written in U.S. — Disk made in India." "Painted and fired in USA. Blanks made in (foreign country of origin)." https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/complying-made-usa-standard

Correct. The FTC only requires that automobiles, textiles, wool and fur list country of origin. For all other products it is optional. However, they give guidelines for the kinds of claims that a company can make (as detailed in my link.) Regarding your (and my) iPhone, they assemble it in China (at Foxconn, I think). You have no way of knowing where the parts come from. There is also a bit of an unfair playing field, globally for country of origin claims. For example, a "Swiss Made" watch has a 60% threshold of Swiss parts, whereas a "Made in USA" component must be "all or virtually all" made from US components to make an "unqualified claim." At the same threshold as the Swiss, for example, a company like Shinola can say "Made in USA of US and imported components" but not just "Made in USA"

There is no volume requirement (although a company has to appear for all intents and purposes as if they are in business since the goal is to connect audiophiles looking to purchase with companies looking to sell things) I have about 20 companies on my list still to add, including Shahinian. Plus, I know that there are more that I don't know about yet. Have hardly touched guitar amps or car audio - trying to do all the audiophile stuff first since it's what I know well.

Regarding the "Made in USA/Assembled in USA" definition, I am going with the FTC definitions. However, it is clear to me that there is a long road ahead that will involve educating both manufacturers and consumers what those definitions mean. There will be, but shouldn't be, anything controversial in determining whether a company's products match the claims they make. It's about transparency. I dislike it when companies obfuscate the origins of things. Regarding links: basic listings are free, and include enough information to easily find any company through a single web search. To recover the not-insubstantial costs of creating and maintaining the site, I am offering advertising and premium listings that include custom copy, images, a bolded title in "The List," and a link to the manufacturer's site. I simply hope to cover my costs and fund trips to audio shows so I can report on new American gear.

Thanks. I certainly don't have anything against foreign equipment or parts either! I've owned, loved and coveted many components from Canada, Europe, and Asia. But I think every detail of audio equipment is interesting, including provenance. Plus, I do think that much of the best audio equipment in the world is from American companies producing in America.

Good to see this here. @Melvin, thanks for sharing it. I'm the publisher of American Made Audio. It's a new site and still growing with both content and features. @NOMBEDES Let me clarify a bit: This list is self-reported from manufacturers or based on information gleaned from advertising, corporate websites, reviews and other places. Not every product from every manufacturer is made in the USA. I published a whole post about “Made in USA” and “Assembled in USA” standards. I've found that there is a tremendous amount of confusion, or obfuscation among manufacturers regarding the FTC standards of what you can claim per their guidelines. http://americanmadeaudio.com/2016/06/25/made-usa-standard-guidelines-audio-equipment-manufacturers-consumers/ "Made in USA" means all or virtually all of the value of a product comes from the US. A very high standard that precludes things like foreign drivers/cabinets for speakers or foreign circuit boards/capacitors for electronics products, even if those products are the best quality. Many companies think they get around this standard by saying "Built in" or "Hand crafted in..." I always take that to mean "Assembled in the USA of some mix of domestic and foreign parts" but each manufacturer may mean something different. There are well over 150 companies each with many products. It would be impossible to create a complete list of products that are truly made in the USA. Even now, the list requires a bit of guesswork on my part. However, it's an excellent starting point. There is a way to see which companies reasonably claim "Made in USA" vs. "Assembled in USA" by clicking on the relevant tags once you're in a product. I'm trying to find a good way to present those links on the site. in the meantime, here they are: - Made in USA: made in usa Archives - American Made Audio - Assembled: assembled in usa Archives - American Made Audio Because of the very stringent requirement for "Made in USA," "Assembled in USA" shouldn't be completely discounted. It simply means that more than a trivial amount of the value of that product is sourced offshore. In some cases, it's only a few parts. In others, it's a lot. Ask your manufacturer about the product you're interested to be sure.