What will it take for Americans to start supporting American businesses?

good products at an affordable price. when you produce junk, and charge out the nose for it, don't be surprised when your customers abandon you! and if you think appealing to some faux patriotism will work, you're sadly mistaken, and will wind up on the ash heap of history

The iPhone costs a few hundred bucks, right?

There was an article recently that estimated the cost of an iPhone if it had been built here: $5000.

A lot of people will complain all day that it's because labor costs are too high. This is not 100% the case. In reality, individual labor costs in most industries are not the main reason. It is technology. New plants (with more automated equipment) can be built faster and in greater quantity in China, than they can in the States. There are no regulations over there.

Yes, they save money on labor. But it's not because there's one kid working for $0.12-0.25 / hour, competing with one American making $15.00-$25/ hour. It's because there's one kid with a machine, making $0.50/ hour, competing with ten Americans making $15.00 /hour each.

China does not have an FDA, a DEC,an EPA, a USDA, or any of the other subcategories of governmet red tape and rules to follow. For a Communist country, China's industrial segment runs like Capitalism on steroids.

Deregulation in the US will cut costs on manufacturing. Refusing to allow products to be imported into the country that have not been built under the same regulations that we have to follow, would be an even better start.

If China was not allowed to pay its factory workers less than $10 an hour, their stuff wouldn't be so cheap anymore.

People complain all day about wages here. They are too high for manufacturers, they are too low for living, etc. So much of it could be fixed by raising our competitor's minimum wage requirements. If a Chinese iPhone was $5000, you wouldn't have a problem paying the same amount for an American one.

That being said, I will still always pay way extra for American tools. Sometimes it's literally ten times the price, or more, than a Chinese version. But I will still do it whenever I can.

You want us to support American businesses? Offer a quality product at a competitive price. If that can't be done, if I have to "pay the extra buck" to buy an inferior product then I am rewarding incompetence. Everyone says America is the best, so be the $%&%ing best! Innovate more, figure stuff out, and turn out a decent product for less! You say we're winners, so win!

I agree. I am buying almost exclusively from local businesses, this helps. Local mid size businesses are actually job producers, approximately 40% of American jobs are with mid range companies with sales from $100,000 to about $3mil. Small to mid range businesses are the future of our economy and the prices are really not much higher. Tariffs don't work by the way because the countries just impose tariffs against our goods.

A lot of effort that's for sure. We as Americans have to stop being so materialistic and American corporations have to stop being so greedy. We think of nothing when it comes to paying high prices for name brands that aren't even made in our country - and that are cheaply made at that. However, we balk at the idea that a product made in the USA is priced higher only because it is not a name brand.

Get rid of most unions would be a good start. Hire on merit only.

when they stop sending jobs overseas

An Obama re election.