WHO KNOWS WHEN THEY ARE BUYING AMERICAN?

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, February 9, 1992                   TAG: 9202080058
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: C2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BETH MACY
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short
WHO KNOWS WHEN THEY ARE BUYING AMERICAN?
Ralph Harless, a Valley Metro bus driver, has been trying to buy American products as much as possible lately. Just as the push was green shopping - for environmentally correct goods - a year ago, now people are trying to avoid imports.
But as Harless says, "As a consumer, you don't know if you're really buying American or not - even if it says `Made in America.' It's hard to tell what items are totally American-manufactured."
Plus, he adds, it's harder than ever to find products that isn't manufactured totally in other countries, especially China. And he doesn't think it's ethical to buy from China, because of the way leaders in that country treat workers and because nothing has changed since the government silenced students during the Tiananmen Square protest in May 1989.
"I can't even find a pair of bedroom shoes that are American-made, even in places like Leggett's," he says.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB