4 ways to avoid Chinese products and buy from U.S. companies this 4th of July

 Amazon Prime Day is an annual two-day shopping event for Prime members. You’ll find thousands of deals on tech, from earbuds to smart home devices.

The colossal discount bonanza runs July 12-13 this year, but you don’t have to wait until then to score great deals. Tap or click here for 50+ early Prime Day discounts you don’t want to miss.

Maybe you’re feeling patriotic since the Fourth of July is right around the corner. You want to support American sellers and avoid Chinese companies while shopping for the 2022 sales. These tips can help you ethically shop when taking advantage of summer shopping events.

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First, some general tips

Shopping online while avoiding Chinese products is like tiptoeing around a minefield. Not only are they everywhere, but they can be hard to recognize.

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

1. Don’t trust an online shop’s search engine. Amazon is notorious for throwing Chinese products into search results for “not made in China” or “made in the USA.” Many online marketplaces have the same issue.
2. Be wary of misleading labels. Don’t fall for a product that says, “Designed in the USA” or “Assembled in the U.S.” Only trust a product that says “Made in the USA.”
3. Use online forums. Sometimes, databases will come up short and your research yields nothing. Reach out to online communities like r/avoidchineseproducts on Reddit.
4. Barcodes can trick you. One popular piece of advice goes something like, “Pick up a product and look at the barcode. If the first three numbers are 690, 691 or 692, it’s Chinese. Look for barcodes that start from 00 to 09. Those are American.” This advice is partly false. Barcodes only identify the manufacturing company’s country of origin. A product’s barcode doesn’t reveal its manufacturing location.

Bottom line: You must think critically to avoid Chinese products. Luckily, we’ve done a lot of the heavy lifting for you. Here are four free tools to help you avoid Chinese sellers and support American merchants instead.

1. If you want to avoid Chinese products, start with this website

Not sure how to tell if a product is made in the USA? Made in America Directory is the site for you. Simply put, it identifies whether a product was made in the United States or not.

Just type the product or company name you’re curious about into the search bar:

Look up brands and devices in this database. It will let you know which products and companies are manufactured in the U.S.

Scroll down to see your search results. It’s probably not an American-made product if you get this message:  Temp Mail “Sorry, your search did not return any results.”

Next time you see a brand on Amazon and you can’t tell if it’s Chinese or not, use this resource.

Of course, the database may simply not have the product you’re looking for. Just to be sure, check out the other methods in this guide.

MADE IN AMERICA DIRECTORY

2. USA forever, China never

If you want to learn how to check if a product is made in China, explore ChinaNever.com. This website also identifies which U.S. companies make their products in China. Its front page explains why you might want to boycott Chinese products:

Image from ChinaNever.com. This website is full of resources for people who want to cut ties with Chinese businesses.

If any of these reasons resonate with you, this website has a free tool to help you avoid buying products from China. Its shopping checker verifies where products are manufactured. Site owners regularly update this tool with new brands.