Does anyone know where I can buy American-made computer components?] My new hard drive arrived today, and when I saw the Made In China label, for the first time, I felt sorry for not trying to support American jobs by buying American. I already know I can buy an American-made entire computer system from Systemax; in fact I was going to buy from them before I decided to build my own; but Systemax doesn't seem to sell individual components (or if it does, it doesn't seem to advertise them).

I gusess Systemax is moving up in the world as a corporation; I already knew it owns Tigerdirect, but before reading the website, I had no idea it now owns CompUSA.

Well, what their site actually says is that You're assembling in the USA. I doubt very much that all the components are "Made in the USA"...

Nope. The case probably made in some Latin American country. As far as the processors, usually those are made in Malaysia, or maybe Taiwan. Memory is almost ALWAYS made in Taiwan, same with the motherboard. This country doesn't produce much of anything, and what it does produce, it's just crap. Face it, the 'Made in USA' label doesn't mean squat anymore. Then again, when it comes to certain electronics, I would prefer Made in Japan, or maybe even Korea anyways.

Well, that did answer my question; thank you. I wanted to know if I could buy American-made components somewhere, not argue over whether they were worth buying.

Not that I mind discussing that. Systemax probably must assemble decent computers here in the States, or it probably wouldn't have stayed in business so long, and certainly wouldn't be in good enough financial shape to have bought CompUSA. If I'm right, and its workers apparently don't make junk (as Jeebizz says American companies do), Americanget workers are still capable of doing good work. They're probably not all the stereotypically lazy and spoiled bums we hear about (especially stereotypes of auto industry workers and union members). Too bad companies don't give them more chances, rather than outsourcing. I know that's cheaper, but if one company can use American labor and remain in business, it can be done.

(I join that argument with trepidation. Mainly because I'm afraid that someone from another country will call me a jingoist for wanting to support my country's workers. Such an idea would be ridiculous, but my expecting it isn't ridiculous. It would not be the first time I've seen it.)

Most of the electronics fabrication industry left this country more than 20 years ago. There are still chip foundries in the US, but mostly they focus on small run custom integrated circuits. The reasons the businesses left have as much to do with tax structures as with labor rates; after all, the final cost of the device is the sum of all the costs that are incurred in making the device and labor is only one of those costs. Further, given the high skill level required to fabricate integrated circuits, it is often hard to move the production overseas - at least, it WAS hard...now all those nations have highly educated and very skilled labor pools.

A substantial portion of our business has left because of our chronic lack of industrial policy/planning, and the attitude that appears every few years that these businesses can be milked for taxes. The US drunken-orgy spending binge of the last generation has cost us in all kinds of ways. The damage to the economic structure is becoming manifest, but the damage to the industrial infrastructure is just as thoroughly tied to the same policies, even if it appears less obvious.

The situation with the UAW is the exception, not the rule. The semiconductor fabrication industry was never wedded to the unions the way the automotive industry is.

I figure most of the components are made in either the Philippines, Thailand, China or Taiwan. I have been on the production line of many manufacturers in SE Asia, 99.9% of all components are made there.

Most of the time, assembly of many PC/Laptops will be done in Mexico but if I recall, because of some fine print in the NAFTA agreement, a seller in the US can say it is assembled here in the US.

Most of the parts are Made in China or Taiwan as there is availability of cheap labour there. Hence, it's *almost* impossible to get parts made in the US - unless you get them custom built i.e

The United States traded it's manufacturing capacity to china for decades of reckless consumption, remember?

Washington has been controlled by the far right since 1980 who's main goal has been to bust unions
this is why there are a ton of tax rewards for shipping jobs over seas

thank the republicans for fucking us out of our good jobs

Actually it was the globalist demos who pissed your manufacturing overseas since the 1970s and bought all the Japanese cars...Unions never did anything for product quality but they were pretty good for getting votes.

Oh yeah and as I overheard one of my American pals say: "Hungry? out of work? Eat your rice burner"

Actually Taiwan is pretty much out of the cheap labour business.Last time I was there they imported people predominantly from Vietnam to do labour intensive jobs (sorry - but importing
people is the only way to put it).

Most of the stuff that has 'made in Taiwan' printed on it is actually made in China.There where (are still?) motions from the Taiwanese government to restrict investments from Taiwan to mainland China because back then close to half the total new investments went to China.

Slightly off topic comment:

China == Taiwan: Taiwan == China.

Anything that I usually buy that I see 'made in Taiwan' I consider it made in China anyways. Not because it is made on the mainland, but as far as I'm concerned the party that rules Taiwan (The KMT) fled from the mainland during the communist takeover. Also, this is the party that unlike the DPP, does not advocate separating from the mainland. I'm sorry to go off topic here, but I just felt that I had to clarify that. Although 'technically' Taiwan enjoys a sort of free-reign 'independence', sooner or later it will have to rejoin the mainland, which I see no reason why it shouldn't, because like HK and Macau, it will still most likely get SAR (Special Administrative Region) status. Plus now that the ruling party in Taiwan is the KMT, there are more direct links between them and the mainland, which has economically boosted both sides, by direct flights, not just for passengers, but also for products shipping between both sides, whereas before it had to go through a third-party.


Now back on topic...

As far as unions are concerned here in the states: I have a mixed opinion, but more or less leaning against them: At least in the early days of when unions were started, their intentions were outright for the protection of the worker, and I am all for worker's rights, however what I see unions today are pretty much night and day difference. It is more of a stranglehold on how companies operate, and makes products more expensive, and also quality suffers. Thats not to say that manufacturing plants in other countries like Japan are not unionized, but at least they have figured out how to properly balance between worker's wages, pensions, and the cost of the product.

Maybe unions here need to take a lesson from those abroad, and it seems that unions here, at least from what my father sees in his workplace, union workers simply take advantage of their status, and do little to no work, and what work they do carry out, is careless. My dad works for a shipping company, and had a delivery contract with Sony, and because of the union workers, they lost that contract, because almost all of the shipments came in damaged, or late.

That is about as naive an attitude as I have ever seen. So far disconnected from objective reality, in fact, that it isn't even worth the time to bother to counter.

Another equally naive opinion.

And, of course the rejoinder is this: Which is more American? A Toyota with parts from around the world that is assembled in Kentucky, or a Ford with parts from around the world that is assembled in Mexico?

I guess you're the expert, so you can explain it to everyone, Jim.