Made in the USA

This is the line that the powerful senior senator from New York is harping on loudly these days. Specifically, Senator Schumer is accusing Adidas of being unpatriotic because it plans to cease manufacturing NBA uniforms in its upstate New York factory.

Instead, this well known sneaker/apparel company is moving its manufacturing operations to Korea where the labor is cheap and its profit will undoubtedly grow. Of course, the good senator is upset because a few hundred constituents in his home state will lose their jobs.

It's unfortunate when anyone has to lose work these days. But, Schumer's logic is kind of laughable for how hollow it rings.

For starters, how can Adidas be viewed as un-American when it is a German company? Sure, it has a U.S. subsidiary and wants to build a strong bond within this country (largely to sell more products). But, the fact remains that it can't or shouldn't feel the least bit of patriotic guilt because there is no sense of American nationalism that can possibly exist.

The Senator is also trying to tie his guilt rhetoric around the neck of American basketball, a pastime in this country. He implies that the NBA is as American as Chevy, apple pie and mom. And, anything connected to this U.S. institution clearly needs to remain on this domestic soil or.....it would be anti-American.

Hogwash, I say. The NBA has been touting its international moniker for almost a decade now. It recruits heavily from Europe and China. Has wholly-owned farm leagues in countries there and (in case anyone has forgotten), includes a team in its league that is based in another country known as Canada.

For all intents and purposes, the NBA has become an international phenomenon. Therefore, if we subscribe to the senator's philosophy, then the NBA should have been derided many, many moons ago for expanding outside our borders.

With all of this said (or written), the distinguished senator is no dummy. He understands what negative, anti-American jobs publicity can do to any company based here. And, I'm sure that Adidas is now feeling the heat from those Lou Dobbs-like activists.

Still, based on its own merit, this story shouldn't be one. And, in this case, the senator has very little to gripe about.

Comments

[Steve Shannon]

Good points Ed. It's hard to be American and buy American - we just don't make that much stuff anymore as no one will work for wages comparable to that in other countries. It's going to be a big problem before long.