We want to buy new kitchen appliances that are made in the U.S. How can we find out where the appliances are made? With the recent
closing of a Whirlpool factory in Evansville, Indiana, whose hundreds of jobs are being moved to Mexico, the number of places where appliances are made in this country just got a bit smaller.
If you're inclined to buy appliances made in the United States, you can start your online research by firing up your browser before you watch the July 4th fireworks this weekend.
A few sites feature lists that they claim indicate where appliances from a range of manufacturers are made.
StillMadeinUSA.com, for instance, covers makers of kitchen, laundry and cleaning, and heating and cooling appliances, and provides some details on the companies and their products. It seems to have been last updated in March. The six-year-old site says it's "a voluntary effort by one woman to help shoppers find products made in USA."
Other sites, including
MadeHereInAmerica.com, offer similar information to MadeInUSA.com but aren't as comprehensive.
We can't vouch for the accuracy of such sites. So perhaps a better way to find out where an appliance is made is to do the work yourself. You might try checking model information on a manufacturer's site or contacting the company's customer-service department directly. A customer-service representative for GE Appliances, for example, noted that specific washing machines are made in the company's Louisville, Kentucky, factory. For other washers, she said only that those appliances are "sourced out" and could be made in this country or abroad.
Or when you're in the store, check for the country of manufacture on the appliances' labels—look inside the freezer or refrigerator compartments of a side-by-side refrigerator or on the nameplate inside the door of a front-loading washing machine, for instance.
Unlike the situation for automobiles, there are no requirements to label what percentage of an appliance is composed of foreign-made components. Our colleagues on the Consumer Reports Cars blog recently posted this
article about the best deals on American-made cars, which not only covered incentives but also detailed which models are made in this country. (Read what the
Federal Trade Commission has to say about the made-in-the-USA standard. And check out our
2008 "Made in the USA?" report.)
The
$300 million cash for appliances rebate program didn't include "Buy American" requirements, but some other federally funded programs do. The
$4.8 billion Weatherization Assistance Program includes
Buy American provisions for some types of work, according to Jen Stutsman, a U.S. Department of Energy spokeswoman.
When you're ready to buy, use the free buyer's guides and ratings you'll find off our
appliances hub, and refer to our brand-new report on the
best places to buy appliances.
—Gian Trotta Essential information: Read "
Appliance Sleuthing" to find out who makes the products you own—the nameplate doesn't always indicate who makes your refrigerator, oven, or washer. And discuss the pros and cons of particular appliances on our
appliances forums.
