BY TOM OZIMEK

March 30, 2021

 

A recent poll found that 63 percent of Americans want the government to buy goods made in the United States—even at a significantly higher cost.

The Reuters-Ipsos poll, which was released on Tuesday, also showed that, while 69 percent of U.S. respondents believe a product being made in America is at least somewhat important, 37 percent would not be willing to pay extra for it out of their own pockets.

Twenty-six percent would only pay 5 percent more, while 21 percent said they would, at most, be willing to pay an extra 10 percent.

The findings are in line with a similar poll conducted last year, which showed that 70 percent of respondents felt goods made in the United States were somewhat or very important, while 38 percent said they would not be willing to pay more for U.S.-made goods. In last year’s poll, the same percentages of respondents as this year said they would be willing to pay a 5 percent and 10 percent premium for American-made products.

The poll, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, comes a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw medical equipment shortages that exposed the drawbacks of U.S. dependency on foreign supply chains.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are 12.2 million manufacturing jobs in the United States, down from 17 million in 2000.