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The practice of outsourcing jobs formerly held by Americans to foreign countries has been a hot topic this week as Republican candidate for president Mitt Romney is defending himself against allegations that he was still at the helm of Bain Capital in the early 2000s when a major outsourcing took place.
As that debate continues, another incident occurred which will no doubt bring even more scrutiny to this practice as it was discovered that the uniforms for American athletes competing in the summer Olympic games contain “Made in China” labels.
The Olympics are scheduled to begin Friday in London with opening ceremonies at which the U.S. Team will be sporting their Ralph Lauren-designed and China-manufactured red, white, and blue uniforms.
Not only are the clothes foreign-made, they are being criticized as unattractive and far too similar to children’s prep school uniforms, with long sleeve jackets, ties and beanies.
At a time when Americans' confidence in leadership and concerns over the economy are at an all-time high, this incident is simply adding insult to injury. Americans need jobs. Unemployment is at the highest it’s been in decades. The economic outlook is bleak, the job creation outlook is even bleaker, and yet our own country refuses to even support itself.
The U.S. Olympic Committee is privately funded by sponsors, who pay dearly for the privilege, and initially took the stance of “our money, our decision,” but quickly recanted and agreed to ensure that the uniforms for the 2014 winter games are indeed American- made.
The USOC shouldn’t have far to look, as a number of American companies can and have made Olympic uniforms in the past, including Reebok, Levi’s and Champion.
Hopefully, the controversy will not overshadow the Olympics and Americans will continue to support its athletes. But also hopefully, Americans will continue to scrutinize the practice of outsourcing to ensure that “Made in America” labels don’t become a thing of the past.
What We Think
‘Made in America’ matters
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