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51% say they’ll buy a US-made good – even if it is more expensive

51pc might favour a US-made product even if it is more expensive than an imported good

64pc of consumers always or sometimes look to see if products are US-made

77pc say the government should support US manufacturers in procurement policy

Tim Montgomerie

8 April 2016

AFP / Getty Images

In Wednesday’s YouGov panel surgery for CapX we investigated attitudes to buying American.

We found that nearly two-thirds of Americans claim to “sometimes” or “always” check to see if goods are “Made in the USA”…

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…and a small majority (51%) say that they would be willing to buy a US-made product even if it was a little more expensive than an alternative, imported product. 38%, however, identified themselves as blind-to-origin rather than as more patriotic consumers. This proportion said they didn’t mind where a product was manufactured as long as it was “good value for money”:

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There seemed to be more enthusiasm from YouGov’s First Verdict panellists for the US government operating a pro-American procurement policy. Only 18% thought a duty to keep costs down was paramount and should therefore lead local, state and federal government to buy imported steel, medical devices or cars – if they provided better value for money. More than three-quarters of panelists thought government procurement policies should favour US-based manufacturers:

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A previous YouGov panel survey for CapX’s Portrait of America found that 46% of Americans thought it was “important” to change immigration and trade policies to “ensure American workers are better protected from unfair competition”.