GREENSBORO, N.C. — Research shows that every $1 million spent on American-made goods translates to about 16 jobs created here at home. But have you ever noticed how hard it is when you're shopping online to tell where a product was made? Take American flags on Amazon for example. Nowhere on the product page does it say where it was manufactured. Instead, you have to click on the seller to get more information. And only after scrolling through that second page do you see the American flag is coming from China. But there's a new tool to help. Made in America is a free browser extension you can download for Chrome. You have to use it on your computer and not your phone. When you're surfing Amazon, it will place a made-in-America logo by American products.
Here's how the plugin describes itself:
“This extension helps you find and support Made in USA products. There is no reliable way to filter products by country of origin to support local manufacturers and businesses in the United States. Whether the goal is to support local businesses and jobs, ensure the quality of our products, or to uphold ethical labor standards, we all have reasons for wanting to support our industries during these difficult times.
When you perform a search on Amazon, we analyze and label products as "Made In America" after analyzing their product descriptions and feature details.
This extension only analyzes products on Amazon.com currently. We are working hard to expand to more websites shortly.”
Adding the extension to Chrome only takes a few clicks. Here's how Google Help says you do it:
- Open the Chrome Web Store.
- Find and select the extension you want.
- Click Add to Chrome.
- Some extensions will let you know if they need certain permissions or data. To approve, click Add extension. Important: Make sure you only approve extensions that you trust.
By the way, you aren't the only one wanting to buy American.
Earlier this year, the White House issued a directive to give preference in government contracts to products made mostly in America.
“All construction materials used in federal infrastructure projects have to be made in America. Lumber, glass, drywall, fiber optic cable and so much more,” Biden said back in April.
To make that happen, the Biden administration recently came out with guidelines about what will and will not qualify. If a product for a project isn't available in America, the construction company must apply to the federal government for a waiver.