People Want ‘Made in America’ Products, But Will They Buy It?

Would people actually spend more money to buy something made in America?
A Texas businessman wanted to find out the answer to that question for himself. So, he decided to test out his own product.

When tariffs on Asian imports went into effect this spring, Ramon van Meer figured it was the perfect time to see if “Made in the USA” really mattered to buyers.

"I wanted to see how many people would actually pay for the more expensive, 'Made in the USA' version," van Meer said

Van Meer, who sells shower heads, decided to run an experiment on his company’s website. Customers could choose between two identical-looking showerheads: the usual imported one for $129, or an "Made in America" version for about $229.

Same product. Big price difference. The result?

“Zero,” van Meer said. He assumed the imported product would sell more overall, but he says, "I was not expecting that the results were this off balance."

Over 25,000 people visited the site. About 600 bought the imported version. Not one opted for the more expensive domestic one.
And it wasn’t just a random price hike. Van Meer calculated that to make it here, he'd need to stitch together multiple suppliers, plastic molding, metal plating, and specialty filtering parts- all of which don’t currently exist under one roof in the U.S. That’s why the price had to be nearly 85% higher.

Other manufacturers make the same point. "There's nobody in the United States that's going to start making showerheads here, even if the tariff were 250%," said Rick Whedon, whose company still makes one domestic model.

Van Meer isn’t giving up on the idea, but he’s realistic.
People want to support American-made, but when it comes to actually paying for it? That’s a different story.