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Believe me, I understand that foreign-sourced material is a tool that can be utilized and that you're not advocating "buy from China at all costs". I am in the oilfield supply chain industry, and I still get paid regardless if I supply my customers imported material or domestic.
I just try to source as much domestic material as I can, as long as cost is within reason. It usually is, and if it isn't, I can convince my customers that they would rather have the more expensive domestic valve than the one with a 30 week lead time that is forged in India.
I hope that by sourcing with a bias towards domestic, I can support the jobs of not only all of the forklift drivers, the salesmen, the secretaries, and the designers, I can also support all of the lathe operators, assembly line workers, shippers, truck drivers, and everybody else involved.
I consider myself fiercely patriotic, bordering on nationalistic. I hope by our little discussion here that people will at least think about some of the drawbacks to buying "Made in China" or "Made in Vietnam" and realize that the price difference between import and domestic is usually caused more by the externalities of manufacturing here than the old "lazy American workers are paid too much" trope (don't misunderstand, you haven't said anything about domestic labor costs, but the thought is there almost anywhere you look in most discussions regarding this issue).
It seems like most everybody on this forum is pretty chill and willing to have a civil conversation about different issues. One more reason that I'm glad I stumbled onto this place a few months ago when I was looking to buy a Raptor.
