Company News|Made in the USA|Manufacturing

Made in America? Since the 1970’s, the U.S. production of American Made and manufactured goods has been steadily on the decline. This drop-off, has come from the mass of cheaper overseas products that have flooded U.S. markets. This has made it difficult for consumers to find truly made in America products. U.S. businesses have recognized the importance of claiming “Made in America.” That title automatically buys them prestige in the market and into American homes. U.S. shoppers would rather buy American Made, but manufacturing here is more difficult and expensive. That makes true American made products hard to find. Unfortunately, there is a shady little work around that can get your product labeled “Made in the USA.” It is a dirty little secret and businesses are pulling the wool over Americans eyes. They are telling little white lies to profit on good intentions. So, What’s Going On? Here’s the problem: Many American based businesses are recognizing the importance of being American Made. However, they don’t want to have to jump over the difficult hurdles of actually manufacturing here in the States. So, here is the deception. All an American manufacturer has to do is buy pre-made product from overseas, ship it to the U.S., assemble it, package it, and then claim that it’s “American Made.” However, the product itself is made from overseas materials, manufactured by overseas factories, and gives the majority of the jobs to people overseas! These companies are able to claim the “American Made” title because at the very last stage of the process, American workers handled the product. What they should be claiming is that their product is “American Assembled.” Some do, but the majority prefer to take advantage of the legal loophole and leave their customers believing a false truth. Why is no One Stopping This? The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the group that monitors the American Made claims and is charged with preventing deception and unfairness in the marketplace. However, the law that allows them to enforce companies to show where their U.S. content was created is only applied to automobiles, textile, wool, and fur products. There is no law that requires other products sold in the U.S. to be marked or labeled Made in USA correctly. There is no rule against having any other disclosure about their amount of U.S. content. This allows companies to falsely advertise “Made in America,” when in reality they aren’t. By buying all of their product overseas they are sending away jobs and the ability to grow America’s manufacturing economy. Why Does it Matter? You may be wondering: “OK, so why does any of this matter?” When businesses decide to take the easy and cheap route of buying and shipping from overseas, they are creating a couple of different problems. Job Loss By manufacturing overseas, companies are shrinking the jobs for future generations and limiting America’s independence. When we start to diminish the amount of manufacturing businesses, you are diminishing job opportunities for hard working U.S. citizens and giving them to people overseas. This also causes Americans to have to rely on those overseas countries for supplies, limiting our economic independence. Pollution U.S. manufacturers that go overseas are hurting our environment. The amount of pollution coming from foreign factories is enormous. From the mining of materials, the coal supplied power, the factories themselves and then the cargo ships that bring the product over here. Many of the countries these products are shipped from don’t have a government that enforces pollution regulation. Here in the United States, we have strict pollution regulations so that our air will stay clean. Overseas, that doesn’t always exist. Foreign Labor Standards Overseas manufacturers are not acknowledging foreign labor standards. The reality is that in many countries there are no foreign labor standards. Children to elderly are forced to work long hours in unprotected environments for almost no pay. You may think “That’s not fair!” but every time you buy something made overseas, there is a good chance you are adding fuel to the fire to that situation. Poor working conditions mixed with the poor pollution leads to poor lives and we are enabling it. Quality of Goods Overseas manufacturers are claiming that their products are up to American standards, but the majority of the time, they are not. When you buy America made products, you expect to get high quality. Businesses that make that claim and then produce low quality, inferior products are dragging America’s reputation through the dirt. How to Spot the Lie: If you want to buy truly Made in the USA products there are a few ways to make sure you are buying the genuine thing. First go and check out their website, if they claim to be American Made look at the fine print. A lot of times they will double back and say American Assembled instead. If it seems unclear, give the company a call and specifically ask if they are American Manufactured or just American Assembled. If they still claim to be American Made feel free to ask them where their manufacturing plant is in America, or which American business they source their materials from. A good example of truly Made in America company is Waterstone Faucets. We design, engineer, manufacture and assemble all of our parts here in Murrieta, California. For materials, we purchase brass and stainless steel from Chase Mills in Ohio. There are a few smaller parts we have to buy from overseas. Like plastic O-rings to secure water leakage. We would happily buy that O-ring from an U.S. business, but because of the decline in American manufacturing, there is no one in the States that makes what we need. Although we do use foreign O-rings, 99.5% of our faucets and accessories are manufactured in the U.S.A. We are qualified by the FTC to claim we are Made in America. If other businesses can’t answer those questions for you, then you probably have a bogus business on your hands. So, the next

Waterstone – Lead Free Down to the Core Here at Waterstone, we strive to produce the highest quality faucets in the market. We understand the importance of using Eco-friendly materials to ensure the utmost safety and happiness to our customers. In order to guarantee the satisfaction of our customers, we use a lead free Eco Brass supplied by an American mill – Chase Brass in Ohio. Lead Free Eco Brass is different from regular brass in that it is required to meet a higher standard of excellence. Many times regular brass can include chemicals and metals that aren’t safe for human consumption. Lead Free Eco Brass upholds the standard of excellence by removing all of those chemicals and metals. Eco Brass is NSF 14 Compliant: Approved by the NSF (National Sanitation Foundation) and is not only Lead free but also Arsenic and Bismuth free. As well as being Lead free, Bismuth free, and Arsenic free, Eco Brass is also corrosion resistant to chemicals found in water and gas. It is also resistant to boiler and pressure vessel code registered alloy. Which means that it won’t break down under the constant flow of water, hot or cold. Eco Brass has the strength equivalent to Stainless Steel and it won’t get brittle at high temperatures. It is the highest quality brass in the market, and even though you may not notice, Waterstone cares enough to make sure that you don’t have too. We have your safety and longevity at heart when we choose to make our faucets from the highest quality materials. Waterstone Faucets are excellence to their core, quite literally! Lead Free: Why does it matter to be Lead free? Studies have shown that regular consumption of small amounts of lead can lead to lead toxicity. So, let’s say you buy a faucet that contains lead in the inner workings. If you drink water from that faucet, over a certain amount of time you are going to be exposed to possible lead toxicity. Lead toxicity can cause abdominal pain, cramps, aggressive behavior, sleep problems, headaches, loss of appetite, fatigue, high blood pressure, numbness or tingling in the extremities, memory loss, anemia, kidney dysfunction and most importantly, loss of developmental skills in children. If you want to keep your family safe, Lead Free Eco Brass is the way to go. Arsenic Free: Like Lead, Arsenic is not something that you want to be ingesting regularly. Arsenic is a natural metalloid chemical that may be present in groundwater. Ingestion only poses health problems if a dangerous amount of arsenic enters the body. Then, it can lead to cancer, liver disease, coma, and death. Bismuth Free: Bismuth can often be found in unclean brass. While many people will tell you that bismuth is non-toxic in small amounts, sufficient exposure can produce nausea, headache, diarrhea, and pain. About Chase Brass Chase Brass and Copper Company traces its origin back to 1837, and today is recognized as one of the most efficient brass rod mills in North America. We place specific emphasis on the quality of our product supported by prompt reliable service to our customers. We market our signature leaded machinable alloy C360 as Blue Dot® Rod and our lead-free machinable alloy C693 ECO BRASS® under the Green Dot® Rod brand. Chase can provide a variety of alloys to support your challenging manufacturing requirements. Visit their site – www.chasebrass.com

New for 2018, when you order Stainless Steel from Waterstone you get 316 MARINE GRADE STAINLESS STEEL. The high quality you’ve come to expect from Waterstone has just gotten better. We are introducing 316 MARINE GRADE Stainless Steel. Starting on 3/16 2018, we will begin creating contemporary faucets and accessories with this new durable 316 material. This exceptional stainless steel is stronger for a lifetime of durability and has maximum resistance to rust, pitting, corrosion and staining. It is the same top quality stainless steel used on ships, food processing, chemical storage and surgical equipment. Did we really need to offer better stainless steel? No, not really. But we did it anyway! We’re Waterstone and we are always looking for better ways to create the best kitchen faucets in the world. MAXIUMUM RESISTANCE TO CORROSION FROM SITTING WATER OR SOAP. When a metal is exposed to underwater or wet environments, marine grade metals may be necessary to prevent the material from failing under those conditions. Marine grade stainless alloys typically contain a chemical element called molybdenum. This element is resist the corrosive effects of sodium or salt in seawater. It is very durable for a lifetime of use. Low maintenance and maintains its luster with spotting or staining. PERFECT FOR OUTDOOR KITCHENS 316 Marine grade Stainless is the ideal choice for outdoor kitchens. Exposure to moisture and sun would eventually degrade any other material. 316 resists the harsh elements and keeps your faucet in good working conditions. More and more people are enjoying their backyards and men are creating their ultimate man caves. Any Waterstone contemporary faucet built with 316 will not only beautify our outdoor kitchen area, but will be there long after your other outdoor appliances. If you happen to live within 5 miles of the coast, you are susceptible to salt spray whether you know it or not. Marine grade stainless steel is used on ships for a reason. It keeps the rust to an absolute minimum. DURABLE FOR A LIFETIME OF USE All Waterstone Stainless Steel products have a lifetime functional warranty and the finish is guaranteed forever. 316 stainless steel is a very durable and high yield strength material that is made up of a molybdenum-alloyed steel. It is an alloy composed primarily of iron, with other ingredients added including nickel, titanium, aluminum, copper, nitrogen, phosphorous, and selenium. 316 is the second most common stainless steel (after grade 304). Its the idea stainless steel for kitchens with hard water that can create calcium. While 316 is not completely rust-proof, the alloy is more corrosion resistant than other common stainless steels.

There is no shortage of Made-in-the-USA stories across the country. They usually include a hard-working team of employees. A high-quality product. Happy customers. American ingenuity. Jobs. There are thousands of companies that follow this general story line. This article is for them, but not exclusively. Any company looking for an edge in the competitive home improvement industry will benefit from a better understanding of Made-in-the-USA retailing. Waterstone Faucets was honored to be included in a group of amazing American manufacturers that are proud to say they are Made in the USA. HCN presents the results from its first-ever Made in the USA survey. The purpose is to expand the understanding of several key questions of Made in the USA and their impact on the industry. Nearly 1,000 industry professionals participated in the survey, and there are no two theories of the importance of domestic manufacturing that are exactly the same. Among our findings: • A gap exists between retailers’ understanding of consumer behavior and that of manufacturer’s — particularly Made-in-the-USA manufacturers, which have a relatively inflated expectation of consumer willingness to pay more. • More companies than not say they are seeing their competitors promote themselves as Made in the USA — by a factor of about 2 to 1. • Almost half of all respondents (47.9%) — both retailer and manufacturer — believe the Federal Trade Commission’s Made-in-the-USA standard is hard to follow. Across hardware stores, signage on shelves and products attempt to boost sales with red, white and blue. The more the industry knows about Made in the USA, the better for business. Waterstone Faucets offers a number of faucet types, available in traditional or contemporary styles. The company’s six styles, or “Suites,” allow the customer to coordinate all faucets and components into one matching style and finish. Each “Suite” has its own look, feel and style that lend itself to a specific decorative kitchen look and feel. The faucets are available in 30 finishes, plus solid stainless steel. Made in: Murrieta, Calif.