Made in America: Americans should know where products are made. Amazon can do it now

The American people aren’t buying what China is selling — or at least, they don’t want to. 

That’s the finding of a telling new poll. According to FTI Consulting, 40% of Americans are no longer interested in buying products that are stamped with “Made in China.” Nearly 80% are now willing to pay higher prices to companies that close their Chinese factories. 

This speaks well of our fellow citizens. Of course, they know that China’s goods — from electronics to toys to clothes — are, in every way, cheap. But they’re starting to see that close ties with Communist China come with a steep cost.

Discontent with China

Credit the coronavirus pandemic for this much-needed realization. While Beijing has desperately and falsely tried to deny its role in creating the current crisis, Americans recognize that its oppression and secrecy are to blame. As other polls show, they want to hold China accountable and that includes with our wallets. 

Moreover, while discontent has long simmered about China’s decimation of American manufacturing, the coronavirus has made it clear that the United States is dangerously dependent on China for much-needed goods. 

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Nowhere is this more clear than the early shortages of personal protective equipment, about half of which is imported from China. With Beijing now blocking some exports of medical supplies to America, people are wondering what will come next. China also manufactures more than 90% of some drugs like antibiotics and ibuprofen, more than 60% of electronics and more than a third of clothes. In another crisis — or worse, a conflict — Beijing could easily deprive the United States of the things that everyday life depends on.

All of this presents an opportunity for American businesses. Many are already taking steps to move their supply chains out of China. The federal government is even mulling paying companies to relocate production, meaning fewer factories and less goods produced in China. Yet many of these actions will take years to bear fruit. After all, a factory can’t be built overnight, and a supply chain can’t be reorganized after a conference call. What can businesses do quickly for the growing number of Americans who want nothing to do with Chinese-made goods?

An American experiment

There’s a simple solution — one that requires a few lines of code. Every retailer with a website should offer a search feature that allows customers to sort products based on where they were manufactured. 

Call it the “Made in America” button.

This is a no-brainer for big companies like Amazon, Walmart, Home Depot, and many others. They already let you view products based on lowest price, highest price, average rating, newest arrival, top sellers and more. It won’t be hard to add another option to the list. 

If a company is worried about looking too pro-American, there’s a simple solution: sort by country-of-origin alphabetically. If they want to be clever, use “America” instead of “United States.”

Implementing this feature will be easy for big companies, but it will also benefit millions of small businesses. Family-owned companies from Atlanta to Albuquerque make quality goods that will get renewed attention if people can search for products that are made in America. 

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Will some be more expensive? Sure. But as the polling shows, nearly all Americans are willing to pay a premium for goods that are made right here at home. And by directing more orders to these businesses, more Americans will get or keep jobs, and the country will more quickly emerge from the coronavirus crisis. 

That’s something that every American can get behind, and it’s something that American businesses can make a reality. The country is quickly turning against the idea of anything that’s made in China. Now which retailer is going to be the first to debut the “Made in America” button?

Nick Ayers was assistant to the president and chief of staff to the vice president in the Trump administration. Follow him on Twitter: @Nick_Ayers.