4 Simple Tools to Avoid “Made in China” (2024)

An increasingly large number of Americans are beginning to look for products made outside of China. A recent survey covered by USA Today found 80% of Americans are willing to pay higher prices to avoid Chinese manufacturing. With rising awareness about China’s working conditions, recent reports about the Uyghur Genocide in China’s Xinjiang province, and even the controversy surrounding China’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, people are beginning to ask themselves: how is my dollar contributing to this?

It is important to note that none of these reasons include a disapproval of Chinese people. People may be hoping to support local businesses, promote social justice, or even just to discover new product lines with higher quality. However you got here, your dollar does make a difference and it is your choice where you send it.

Since moving away from Chinese products in the spring, I have found the undertaking to have both challenges and rewards. Some challenges I have encountered:

• Companies missing where their product is made on their website or even intentionally hiding where their product is made.
• Non-Chinese versions of a product being 3 or 4 times the price of the Chinese version
• People misunderstanding your activism as potentially xenophobic or anti-Chinese.

My hope is to help you reap the rewards, like a clean conscience knowing that you aren’t contributing to factories that use suicide nets, without so much challenge. But before I get started, a note on the reason behind avoiding Chinese products:

It is important to note that avoiding Chinese products is not about punishing, disliking, or avoiding Chinese people. It is not even about making a general statement about China as a nation. It is about ending an unhealthy relationship. As I will go into more detail with the fourth tool (below), there has been evidence for exceptionally bad worker abuse in China, going beyond just long hours and low pay. There has been evidence, past and present, of government-run forced labor camps being used by Chinese manufacturers that — and here is the critical point — ultimately export to the US in massive quantities. Someone may point out, “there are comparable issues in countries other than China, why am I focusing only on China?” This is a fair point, however it is worth noting that the existing relationship (and reliance) on China is much stronger than it is with other countries with comparable problems. The top supplier of US goods is China. I am not trying to end an unhealthy relationship with India or Vietnam because, compared to China, the American consumer barely has a relationship with India or Vietnam.

Someone may add, “the United States isn’t perfect either, we have subpar working conditions too!” While it is true that the United States (like any country) has work to do on employer-worker relations as well, it is much easier for them to be exposed and changed due to the measures of accountability we have put in place, measures like our 1st Amendment rights, that China does not. In other words, by focusing on China I hope to have the biggest impact on the biggest problem, and hopefully, someday, help Chinese people and set an example for the rest of the world.

1. Walmart

You may not have expected it, but topping off our list of tools to avoid buying Made in China is to keep shopping at Walmart. While in years past Walmart has been Cheap-from-China Central, today it has become one of the best places to find everyday items made by American or other non-Chinese manufacturers. Due in part to a massive initiative started in 2019, Walmart has began transforming its inventory to include more American flags on its labels than ever. Their Walmart-brand “Mainstays” line is particularly populated with American-made goods, with items ranging from curtain rods to lamps or whatever random thing you might usually get at Walmart made in the USA. So next time you are looking for something not made in China for a reasonable price, before searching around all over the internet, just check to see if they have it at Walmart.

2. Reddit.com/r/avoidchineseproducts

Number 2 on our list is an invaluable tool for finding obscure items on the internet that you have trouble finding just using Google. Reddit board /r/avoidchineseproducts is a growing community of consumers dedicated to helping one another find the best products not made in China. At almost 50,000 members, there is almost always someone who has asked for what you are looking for before, and if not, someone who would answer you if you asked yourself.

On the day that I am writing this the most recent posts include someone asking for metal drinking straws made outside of China with 3 replies and someone asking for a paper shredder with 93 replies. If you can’t find it anywhere else, or even if you want to save time looking anywhere else, look for it on /r/avoidchineseproducts. You will probably find it.

3. Amazon Search Q&A and Reviews

Amazon is one of the most convenient and popular ways to shop today. It is also one of the main avenues by which Chinese manufacturers sell their products online to American buyers, often without them knowing until it gets to their house. To avoid this, use Amazon’s search tool in the Q&A and Reviews section.

On any given Amazon product page, scroll down to where the reviews and customer questions and answers are. There is a search bar here allowing you to type in keywords to find out what other people have asked or said about the product. Most of the time, if you just type in “China” you can where someone who has asked where the product was made and someone who answered “Made in China.” Alternatively, you can search “USA” or “where is this product made” and the answer will pop up. If none of these work, you can always ask the question yourself, and in my experience, someone will usually respond in 1–2 days.

4. “Made in China” by Amelia Pang (2021)

“Made in China” is a heart-wrenching nonfiction book following the story of a Chinese labor camp inmate who left an SOS note in a Halloween decoration bound for the USA. The book, written by ethnically Chinese American Amelia Pang, uncovers the complexity and secrecy of Chinese supply chains and how difficult it is for auditors or journalists to track where/how products are being made. Ultimately, she exposes the repeated offense of forced labor camps being used to make cheap American products and the brutality inflicted on inmates being ignored or even covered up by the Chinese Communist Party.

This book, which I will leave the details for you to read, is listed because of its usefulness in helping others understand why you are no longer buying products made in China. By focusing on one inmate’s story, Pang illustrates the reality of China’s forced labor camps for real people, cutting through the politics and economic interests that pixelate the topic. Even more than that, however, it is an inspiring story about people who endured torture and risked their lives to expose what they saw as a fundamental infringement of human rights. If you’re concerned that your decision to not buy Chinese may be too controversial, Amelia Pang’s “Made in China” could provide the additional inspiration you need. And yes, it’s printed in the USA.