10 Things Still Made in America

BOSTON (MainStreet) -- From Apple (AAPL) iPads to fruit juice, many of our purchases these days rely on parts, labor or commodities shipped in from overseas.

Even products perceived as "American" brands, like Levis and Wrangler jeans, are now made either south of the border or overseas and that all-American paean to capitalism -- the Monopoly game -- has a workforce in Ireland that is churning out all those red hotels and green houses for Hasbro (HAS).

Last month, a study conducted by global management consulting firm Booz & Co. with the University of Michigan's Tauber Institute for Global Operations, said the future of U.S. manufacturing is being decided now.

"Today, U.S. manufacturers provide about 75% of the products that Americans consume," the study says. "But that number could soar to 95% within a few years if business and government leaders take the right actions. Conversely, if the sector remains neglected, that output could fall by half, meeting less than 40% of U.S. demand."

The report was based on a sector-by-sector analysis of U.S. industrial competitiveness, along with a survey of 200 manufacturing executives and experts.

Among the recommendations:

• The U.S. needs to build a better future with Mexico, shifting less-demanding, labor-intensive processes to that country while helping build a safer consumer economy there and retaining highly skilled work in the U.S.
• America needs more robust manufacturing-education programs, immigration reform and to promote the attractiveness of manufacturing careers.
• Public and private sectors can build geographical concentrations of suppliers, service providers and academic institutions, reinforced by investments in infrastructure.
• The country needs also to simplify and streamline the tax and regulatory structure. The official statutory corporate tax rate stands at 39%. Closing the gap between statutory and effective rates (typically 28%) would be a revenue-neutral way to put U.S. manufacturing on a level global playing field.

While government officials debate these and other proposals, consumers can take matters into their own hands by buying American-made goods.

The following are 10 things you can still buy that fit that category:

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