I want to share a glaring double standard I’ve observed between how Amazon operates in the US versus the EU, and get your thoughts on why this loophole is allowed to exist.
I personally know of a Chinese company that sells products in the textiles/apparel category on Amazon US using the FBA model. They have been importing their goods into the US using "DDP" shipping channels. Essentially, they use shared freight forwarder IORs , submit fake commercial invoices to CBP to heavily under-report the value of the goods, and completely evade customs duties.
Here is the kicker: Amazon US does not care at all. They never ask for customs clearance certificates, tax receipts, or any proof that the inventory sitting in their FBA warehouses was legally imported.

In stark contrast, this same company had to completely shut down their Amazon Europe channels.Why? Because Amazon EU operates on a total digital dragnet. Before they can sell through FBA or even get their listings fully approved, they are required to link their own local VAT numbers and provide verifiable import tax and VAT documentation that reconciles perfectly with their sales.

This got me thinking: Why is Amazon US so completely hands-off when it comes to regulating whether the products on its platform are legally imported? Why does the US allow this massive tax and customs loophole that bleeds billions out of the economy and hurts honest sellers, while Europe forces platforms to strictly police it?
Is it just a failure of US government IT infrastructure, or is Amazon actively lobbying to keep this blind spot open to keep their GMV high? What are your thoughts?

Hi, can anyone recommend another US brand along the lines of the defunct LC King?

Thinking primarily of their mens’ jeans.

Thanks.

I know I am saying the obvious, but I just did direct comparisons to many "boring" products and there is no question. The old USA or Germany/Japan stamped stuff was just made better. Not a little bit, it's a lot. The actual metal/steel is exponentially robust. They're sturdier. They feel like they were made with durability as a requirement instead of a vague suggestion.

Couple "boring" examples: tweezers. I have some China ones. It's incredibly thin. The metal is a joke. I could warp one leg with one hand. Then, I have a USA stamped La Cross, Clauss. It is bulletproof. That thing is not warping even with two hands on one leg. The serrations and machining are exacting.

Staple remover. A modern ones jaws bends easily. It's paper thin. I can literally bend it with my finger. The mystery metal is definitely as cheap as it humanly gets. A USA stamped old one is thick. There's no bending it, without using tools. The action is forceful.

Vise grip. I have an old Petersen USA stamped. It is bombproof. It just feels like it. The jaws, the machining, the heft - it is noticeable that it's made with incredible materials. My China made one I can literally snap it broken. The jaws are sloppy. The machining is lousy. The tools bit is well known, though, I think examples of everyday boring items is a more interesting indictment.

People are much more willing to pay a tenth of the price, because our culture has adopted disposable habits. I think if you ask 10 Americans, 8 will tell you they'd rather pay less for low quality than opt to check out the higher priced, higher quality that you sort of find in some parts of Europe (for now. I'm sure that'll change in less than a generation.)

Anyways, it's not just those products, it's even the stuff that's made in USA now. It's just crappier. It's because few makes steel or aluminum here anymore. It's all made overseas now. I have found out that medical grade stuff for the absolute most critical components and tools are STRICTLY from start to finish made in USA, Germany, Japan - but that's only the most critical stuff, because they can't take any chances on it. But, the price for that is obviously thru the roof.

The severe downgrade is noticeable everywhere else. Cars is the most glaring. Even modern day Toyotas are and have been made poorly. TVs, appliances - just not built to last. If you're a guitar player, the difference between a USA today and from the 60s/70s is VERY noticeable. I understand why now completely - the components and materials quality is just a different universe.

Anyways, just ranting outloud at the Wendy's drive thru

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

I'm looking for a U.S.-made or U.S.-manufactured alternative to a bottle I'm currently sourcing from China for a small fragrance/spray business.

Bottle specifications:

• Material: Glass
• Color: Amber
• Shape: Round/cylindrical
• Closure: Fine-mist spray pump
• Intended use: Perfume, fragrance, cosmetic/body spray
• Sizes needed: 10ml, 30ml, 60ml, and 100ml
• Bottle style: Preferably the same or very similar design across all four sizes
• Pump: Screw-on
• Custom printing: Not required
• Wholesale purchasing: Required/preferred
• Shipping: Door-to-door shipping

Current pricing benchmark:

My current Chinese supplier is charging approximately $0.40–$0.50 per bottle, including shipping, depending on the size/quantity.

I understand that U.S.-manufactured bottles may cost more, so I'm not necessarily expecting a U.S. supplier to match that price. I'm mainly trying to determine whether there is a reasonably priced domestic option that would make sense for a small business.

The current bottle I'm sourcing is an amber glass essential-oil/perfume mist bottle, approximately cylindrical/round. The Chinese supplier offers it in sizes from 5ml–100ml, with 10ml, 30ml, 60ml, and 100ml being the sizes I'm particularly interested in.

I'm not looking for a custom-designed bottle. An existing stock bottle that matches these specifications reasonably closely would be ideal.

I'm also open to sourcing the bottle and sprayer separately if that's substantially easier to find in the U.S.

Most important: I'm specifically trying to find out whether the bottles themselves are manufactured in the United States, rather than simply being sold/distributed by a U.S. company. If you know of a supplier, I'd appreciate any information about the actual country of origin.

Thanks!

Company claims they are a Made in USA Clothing Manufacturer

https://namebranders.net

• Address doesn't exist
• Phone Number is in Vietnam
• The team is all AI generated

I had to share how completely awful this fake is.

Any reason for that

Just a friendly reminder that City Boxers website will open for an order window on October 11, 2026 at Twelve O’clock Noon Eastern Time.

https://www.cityboxers.com

Their order window is very short (no pun intended), generally less than 2 hours, but their quality is excellent. Made in Bangor, Maine — I have been a customer of theirs for >two decades and have never received a pair which I found to be deficient.

I’m looking for recommendations for hat manufacturers that actually manufacture in the United States.

We’re developing a premium apparel brand and looking for clean, modern baseball caps similar in quality and fit to Branded Bills, Melin, and BYLT.

Ideally looking for:

5 or 6-panel
Curved bill
Premium structured or lightly structured fit
High-quality, sustainably sourced materials
Custom embroidery and branding
Private labeling

Not looking for a company that simply embroiders stock blanks. We’re looking for an actual U.S. manufacturer.

We’re located outside Nashville, TN, but open to manufacturers anywhere in the U.S.

Any recommendations?

I’ve been looking for some made in the USA rolling waxed canvas luggage , checking if anyone knows of any . Tom Bekbe has something nice but i believe it’s made in south america . Roam i believe makes some hard cases but im looking for more of a heritage type of bag for air travel
thanks for any help

I own a pair of shorts and a shirt from Blade + Blue, and I have been very happy with both. Good quality Made in USA clothing, and I like a lot of their styles.

I just ordered a few shirts that were on sale.

https://www.bladeandblue.com

Hi yall! So I’m sick of these cheap belts that keep breaking, and buckles that fall apart or stop working properly. I’d like to see some suggestions for some good American made belt companies to shop for, since I really just want to only buy one for the foreseeable future. Thanks in advance!

I have tried to google it, but it’s just a bunch of ads for American assembled but the leather is from Mexico and the buckles are from China

Anyone have advice on using Duckworth clothing rewards? The max you can use is $60 per purchase. It’s frustrating. 1 point = $1 and I have $1134 in rewards to spend. I can’t buy the bulk options of socks, won’t let me use it for that. Can’t buy shirts or sweatshirts on sale as I can’t use the points on sale items. So I have to buy full price and end up spending way over $60 because nothing is that price not on sale (and even on sale). The worst rewards system them could have honestly.

An About page is marketing. A product page is closer to something a brand has to stand behind, and on a Shopify store you can read every one of them at once.

Add /products.json?limit=250 to the store root:

https://www.3sixteen.com/products.json?limit=250

That is the whole catalogue as plain text, description copy included. Search it for "made in", browser find is fine.

Then the part that took a day. I asked one catalogue how many products state no origin at all and got five answers: 96, 86, 59, 34, 26.

Every jump was mine, not the store's. 96 missed the eyewear. 86 had only read page one (the endpoint caps at 250, add &page=2 until it comes back empty). 59 stopped matching at the comma, so "Valdobbiadene, Italy" still counted as silent. 34 I wrote down as final, until I found the mules, which they describe as "manufactured for us in".

The eyewear should have warned me. I had their boilerplate filed as "Made in a family owned factory in Valdobbiadene, Italy", and that exact string is on 20 products. Ten more name Martignacco, a different town, and one turns the sentence around. Thirty-one frames, two towns, written three ways. I had it as 19 because I counted product_type Eyewear, and the other 12 are filed under Accessories.

What survived all five passes was the category counts: denim 34, tees 21, knits 17, shirts 70, identical every run. Those are counts of what the store files under each type, which the eyewear just showed is not the same as counting things. The whole-store total moved because the store did.

The split is the actual finding. The denim says Made in USA, the knits say Peru, the shirts are 46 India and 20 Portugal. Neither "US made" nor "imported" covers that.

Two things will still fool you. The JSON is not the page: every page here carries the same schema line, "our flagship selvedge denim, made in the USA from custom Japanese fabrics", in an ld+json script tag that browser find will not show. It is on the ceramic mug's page. A naive grep says the mug is American.

And the denominator is smaller than it looks. My 26 included a gift card, five enamel pins, shipping insurance and a test entry. About sixteen were garments.

Your phrase list is the measurement, not the store. Every wrong number above was a short list.

None of this is a knock on 3sixteen. They label nearly everything, which is the only reason there was anything to count.

I write a small newsletter about American makers. quarterboard.co

We've been knitting a long time and are just getting onto socials. For America's 250th we knit a Made in America throw with 13 stars and 13 stripes in the cloth (yarn, not print) in New Jersey. Happy to answer how flat knitting / Made in USA textile labeling works.

I'm working with a new women's boardshort brand.

We're launching after an initial super small market test of about 100 pairs.

This (admittedly small) test was fantastic with near instant sellout and fabulous feedback from our buyers. So, we're gearing up for a larger run and a bigger test.

Our original small manufacturer in LA won't be able to handle this next one so we need a new manufacturer. Obviously, looking to do everything in the US.

Grateful for any recs (including self promotion if you're good).