U.S. consumers may be surprised to learn many products bearing
the label “Made in America” are largely built outside of the
United States. The practice exploits a little-known loophole in
the product-label system that one California businessman says he
is determined to expose. Oftentimes, as much as 90 percent of
the various components of a product can come from other
countries, such as China and India, but it can still qualify for
the “Made in America” label because a minimum percentage of the
final product is assembled or “substantially transformed” in the
U.S. This process, which critics call deeply deceptive, can
leave American consumers assuming they are buying from primarily
domestic sources, when, in fact, most of their money is going
overseas. “Companies are gaming these rules,” said Alan Uke,
owner of a specialty lighting manufacturer and author of “Buying
America Back,” which lays out a strategy that he is hoping
lawmakers on Capitol Hill will consider. Under his proposal,
American manufacturers wou