Destin at Smarter Every Day recently released a brutally honest video about attempting and failing to make a simple product in the USA after 4 years. Most people don't understand why it's so hard, and what's wrong with our manufacturing. Let's take a deeper look.
Why Is It So Hard to Manufacture in the U.S.?
The short answer? The infrastructure just isn’t there anymore.
Patrick is currently attempting to have a large baby bib made out of silicone. You could argue this is one of the simplest products in existence because it's literally 1 part. But to make that bib, you need molds, and most of the molds are not made in the USA, but even if you had the molds, Patrick's run into other issues.
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Mold size limitations - The U.S. manufacturers Patrick contacted said his design was too big for compression molding, which hasn’t been an issue in China.
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Minimum order quantities - Patrick wants his first run to be 2,000 to 5,000 units to test the market. Most U.S. factories required a minimum of 20,000 to 100,000 units.
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Packaging - The factories that make silicone products in the USA do not want to deal with packaging.
Even when he did get a U.S. quote, it came out to $20 per unit, compared to $2–$5 in China. And that’s before dealing with the tooling costs; $25,000 for a mold to be made in Puerto Rico (where he currently lives).
Destin ran into the same walls. His brush used a simple quarter-twenty bolt—an incredibly common item. But sourcing it made-in-USA meant paying four times the cost compared to a foreign-made bolt. And in many cases, products being marketed as "Made in the USA" are not. In Destin's video, a knob he purchased because it was supposadly made in the USA was actually from Costa Rica.
It’s Not One Factory, It’s a Hundred
One of the biggest misconceptions about manufacturing is that there’s a single factory where raw materials go in one side and finished products roll out the other. That’s a fantasy. In reality, most products require dozens of suppliers:
The simplest product I could find in my office was a pocket knife. It has only a few components, but each one is made in a different factory.
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One factory for plastic handles
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One for the metal parts
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One for glue
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One for screws
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Another for the packaging—cardboard, printing, folding
That’s what makes China so effective—not just their low labor cost, but their superior project management. They’ve built entire ecosystems where you can source, assemble, print, package, and ship—all coordinated by a single manufacturer who manages every step for you.
If you try to have your product made in the USA, you will personally have to source every single component and manage every aspect of the supply chain. If you have your product made in China, a manufacturer will fight to win the entire project. They will source every single component, and they won't charge you for this work.
When I had reached out to a glass factory to have custom hot sauce bottles made, I was shocked when they told me they also wanted to manage the production of my wooden lids, metal inserts, fancy label, and complex box.
Why Most Businesses Don’t Even Try
You can go on Alibaba right now and find any type of manufacturer imaginable, and you can send them a private message instantly. Within a few hours, even during the night in China, you will get a response from someone willing to bend over backwards to get your business and manage the production from start to finish.
Not only is it more difficult to find US manufacturers, but when you call them, they won't pick up the phone, they won't call you back, and they will actively try to turn you away because they aren't interested in small production runs.
Destin didn’t create the Smarter Scrubber with profit in mind. He wanted to make it in the USA to prove a point and to create content for his YouTube channel. But after four years, he still couldn't get every part sourced in the USA. If someone as passionate, smart, and determined as he is can’t succeed after four years, what business—whose sole goal is to turn a profit—would ever attempt this?
What Does “Made in America” Even Mean?
According to the FTC, a product can be labeled “Made in the USA” if “all or virtually all” components are sourced and manufactured domestically. How many products can truthfully claim that "virtually all" of their components are made in the USA?
Destin is very close to having his Smarter Scrubber fully made in the USA but as of right now, he's unsure of where the rope is from, the knob is from Costa Rica, and he ordered a bunch of extra chainmail from India in case his US supplyer can't keep up, and he realized that it was actually from China.
Is Oliveum Hot Sauce made in America? You'd probably say no because even though the sauce itself is made in Florida, the box and bottle are made in China. But if that's your position, you also have to admit that no other locally made hot sauce can claim it either, because every generic hot sauce bottle in the USA has been produced in another country. And to take that even further, almost every food item in America is packaged in foreign-made plastic and glass containers.
So What’s the Solution?
Manufacturing in America is possible—but only with massive long-term investment. It’s not just about opening a factory. It’s about rebuilding an entire network: project managers, tool makers, parts suppliers, freight systems, and quality control teams.
We need serious, multi-decade incentives to encourage new generations to go into trades like tool and die—a once-respected profession now earning below-average wages.
Tariffs might be a small piece of this puzzle, but being that manufacturing in the USA costs 5-10 times more than China, we don't need a 30% tariff; we need a 500%-1000% tariff to actually move the needle, and implementing that would destroy our economy and will slow growth. Nobody will invest in factories to build things if everyone is too poor to buy anything.
It's Still Worth Supporting
If you’re reading this, I hope you take a moment to watch Destin’s video and buy the Smarter Scrubber. It’s not cheap. But he's opened the curtain on just how broken our system is, and he did it with integrity, honesty, and grit.
People here in America love to brag that products made here are the best quality and that's just not totally true. As you mentioned in your video, you can get quality products in China (and other places). I'm sure we'd all love to buy American made products, but again, as you mentioned, we just don't have the infrastructure here to make many products and in particular, in mass. And those that are made here are way over-priced, as if we should pay a premium just because it's stamped "Made in the USA," and the quality is NOT always there. Like most other Americans, I buy based on my budget and if that means buying a product made in China, then that's what I do! I'm not over-paying for something just b/c they stamp Made in the USA" on it, especially when it's not the top quality as they like to claim. Even taco's hats and other junk products are made in China, even though he and most Americans like to dig at them. At least they were smart enough to build all those factories that can put out these products.
There's still a few mostly clothing manufacturers made in USA. The real challenge would be to replicate component products from Germany.
The USA which produced hundreds of WW2 airplanes a day. The USA which produced ships faster than 1 a day. The USA which produced 12 million firearms during the war. And now we can't produce a glass bottle, or a plastic part? How does NAPA get all their wine bottles?
There are still two cast iron pattern shops near me. There are foundries near me that produce frying pans, brake rotors, etc. Unfortunately the bar bell set I bought had Chinese made plates. I would think it's more expensive to ship tons of cast iron across the ocean than to make it locally. I know of several plastic injection companies near me.
The USA can't even make it's own drugs. How hard is to have machines mix up the ingredients and extrude pills?
It's a damn shame that the USA can't or won't make things anymore.
No matter how much investment, youll never be able to compete with someone who is sleeping on the ground. Richard Cantillon explained it hundreds of years ago. It is the move into luxuries that inevitably lapses into decline. Simple put out standard of living is too high to compete.
Excellent article, Lee. Extremely well-written and organized.
I wonder what would happen if someone had an idea for a product, but, instead of trying to source the components, they attempted to make all of the components themselves.
In other words, if you want to make a hot sauce, you would start a small glass factory to make the bottles, start a small print shop to make the labels, and buy a lathe and a few power tools to make the wooden lids. Instead of trying to find other entities to make these things for you, you tool up to make them yourself.
My brother has started to do this with his making of lamps. He now has several tanks in his basement so that he can plate metal with other metal. He made the tanks and the heating apparatusses himself, all from scratch. And he has a bunch of machining equipment to cut, bend, and polish brass, steel, and tin. His home manufacture is not perfected yet, nor complete, but he is trying.
It would surprise most people to see just how possible it is to manufacture things from scratch with a minimum investment, right in your basement or garage.
Has your friend looked into making the mold himself for the silicon baby bibs, instead of paying a shop to make it for him? It wouldn't surprise me if he is able to do it himself with 3-4 months of time invested in learning how to do it, and $10,000 in tooling up for it. He may be able to save upwards of $15,000 by spending a few months learning something new.
Great article! - First off, my China beliefs - I was in the motorcycle business for 37 years - As time went on more & more service customers would bring in their 3rd party purchases which invariably were made in China - I do know what our experience was and that was China makes junk - We actually made it store policy if your product is Chinese we would not guarantee the labor-side of the installation as the majority of the time, whatever the item was, it would not fit properly which brought about the need to modify the component to a degree - How widespread that might be I don't know - Next up, I'm talking about decades ago now, I blame our own government and American CEO's for wanting to do business with China, a communist government - We have helped China become a world power as they buy up ports around the world and get involved in helping other countries with infrastructure projects - Sounds ok but is it really? I certainly don't claim to know with certainty - Are we willing to bring our standard of living and work standards down to China's level? - If that is even a true statement - You're 100% correct when you say people vote with their wallet - As for me if I can't afford to purchase a so-called American product I wait until I have the money - I try to avoid Chinese purchases but as your story so clearly states, it's near impossible - I don't do business with Amazon as I think Mr. Bezos has seriously screwed the American entrepreneur - Trying to compete with Amazon is a race to the bottom of the barrel - And the truth is how many people can compete with Bezos - It's not a competitive marketplace when you go up against one of the richer folks in the world who is intent on selling every product under the sun - I'm not confident America can become a manufacturing country again, it just may be wishful thinking at the end of the day.
We have a lot of great manufacturers in the great state of WI! Check out ACIIndustriesinc.com for tier 1 OEM precision metal machining and Midland Plastics for plastic thermo forming or drape forming for those bibs.
In the Top 10 manufacturing output in 2024, the USA is No. 2
https://www.safeguardglobal.com/resources/blog/top-10-manufacturing-coun...
In the Top 10 exporting countries in 2023-2024, the USA is No. 2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_exports
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Now, not all manufacturing occurs domestically, but it is also the case for China that not all factories are Chinese companies.
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As far as tariffs, the US government is broke, so you have to chose: higher income taxes, or tariffs and other "selective" taxes. If I have to have one, I'd rather have tariffs (which is a sales tax on imported goods) than a higher income tax for life.
Look, it's like this: Thing one, decades ago American business decided that making "higher end" products was better than making bolts, screws, nuts and various doodads. It is better to design cell phones than make them. Second, why does your president think that tariffs will bring making products back to the US? Sure, if you put a large enough tariff on an item it MAY become economical to make it in the US, but who will buy it at the price it needs to be? Third, and most importantly, tariffs have made the US an unreliable partner. Trade agreements mean nothing if they can be overwritten by a signature and a Sharpie. The end result is that the US can't be trusted, isn't trusted, and the world now is slowing moving on.
"Bringing back manufacturing" is the government's excuse for imposing another tax (because they're broke). Although in some sectors it may work this way and tech is enthusiastic about it (says the CEO of NVIDIA).
The democrats were very much pro-tariffs, the republicans against, now they're flipping, then they'll flip again.
There's another trigger button though: if the USA withdraws its fleet from the seas, no more International Trade. Since the Bretton Woods agreement, the USA is protecting international trade with its fleet at the expense of the US taxpayer. The Chinese don't have long range ships to do that and can't afford it. Insurance companies won't insure ships (at least not at current prices) if the US withdraws its fleet. The arguments about "unreliable partner" are laughable for this reason.
PS. The "world (if we mean the West) moving on", they are actually changing their minds now. This article quotes Politico's article "Donald is right", EU Chief says:
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/europe-admits-trump-right-china-p...
It's a very large and complex issue. It looks like the "world" is lining up behind Trump, for doing what Schumer and Pelosi said they should do but never did (political cost). This is going to last for decades.
You misunderstand the observation that the world is moving on. I am referring to repetitional damage. Trump negotiated and signed a trade deal with Canada and Mexico (USMCA) and then instituted tariffs to undermine the agreement - effectively gutting it. Whether you believe his motives were truthful or good economics, is irrelevant. If you can't rely on the US to live up to the agreements it has signed, then there is a diminished level of trust. He has also covetously threatened to take Greenland from Denmark. Again, whether this threat is real or posturing it creates uncertainty and shows open hostility towards a national ally. Both examples illustrate the capricious nature of dealing with the current president and unreliability. Consequently, the world is moving forward knowing this. This has nothing to do with Chinese EVs, Schemer or Pelosi.