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Originally Posted by CliffFletcher
I'd suggest that's because most Americans don't understand the ramifications of protectionist trade policies. The fact that most stuff we buy today is way, way cheaper than it was 50 years ago has gone unnoticed in the popular consciousness. Ask people if they want to see protectionist policies if it means everything they buy at WalMart will cost 30 to 70 per cent more and see how they respond. I mean, they have the option today to buy locally produced goods or foreign-made ones, so this isn't some hypothetical issue.
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Cliff, I'm surprised to see a post from you that seems to rely so heavily on anecdote.
You've changed it now from American's don't want, now they don't understand what they don't want.
This is an area where politics has clearly abandoned popular support.
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Sixty-four percent of Americans say they would be willing to pay more to buy a U.S.-made product than a similar product made in other countries. This includes the vast majority, 88%, of those who make a special effort to buy U.S.-made products, but also nearly half of those, 44%, who do not.
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More specifically, the most common reasons for "buying American" were to support the U.S. or to be patriotic, mentioned by 32% of adults who sought out U.S.-made products in recent months, and to keep or create jobs in the country, mentioned by 31%. Additionally 20% said that buying U.S.-made products is good for the U.S. economy in general.
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These are from a 2008 Gallup Poll.