Made in the USA

Today, July 2nd, is Made in the USA Day. Sounds great, doesn't it? Buying products made in our own country has to be a good thing, supporting our own neighbors and countrymen (and countrywomen). But what does it mean?

Here's a place that purports to gather products produced here so we can shop domestically.

http://www.madeinusa.org/ Hm, there's a tab for books.  I wonder if I should add my own products there. When I clicked on the link that says "Search Amazon for Books Made in USA" I get the incomprehensible message: Your search usa made america did not match any products. The message doesn’t sound like it's made in the USA.

Here's another place that gives us something to think about: http://business.ftc.gov/documents/bus03-complying-made-usa-standard. A quote from that site: U.S. content must be disclosed on automobiles and textile, wool, and fur products. There’s no law that requires most other products sold in the U.S. to be marked or labeled Made in USA or have any other disclosure about their amount of U.S. content. However, manufacturers and marketers who choose to make claims about the amount of U.S. content in their products must comply with the FTC’s Made in USA policy.

How about that?

Further: What products does the FTC’s Made in USA policy apply to?

The policy applies to all products advertised or sold in the U.S., except for those specifically subject to country-of-origin labeling by other laws. Other countries may have their own country-of-origin marking requirements. As a result, exporters should determine whether the country to which they are exporting imposes such requirements.

This language makes my head hurt. I'm going to quit reading it.

I'll just tell you that my new book, SMOKE, has a Fourth of July theme and IS made in the USA. There are firecrackers, a body hanging in a smokehouse, a pet pig, and Imogene Duckworthy on her second mystery adventure. It's available now as an ebook, later this month in paperback. If I've interested you, some links are at http://kayegeorge.com/novels.html. It will be available from Untreed Reads soon, also.

Have a Happy Fourth!