MIUSA is a good marker of quality for many products—not because US workers or processes are exceptional in ways that those in poorer countries can’t be, but bec

MIUSA is a good marker of quality for many products—not because US workers or processes are exceptional in ways that those in poorer countries can’t be, but because US manufacturing has high labor costs, so it doesn’t make sense to cut corners that it might in other countries, because you’re already not able to chase the very-price-sensitive market. For example, it’s rare to see shoes made in the US (or other rich countries, for that matter) that are made with anything worse than mid-tier full grain leather, because what’s the point? If you use US manufacturing to make crappy bonded or corrected leather shoes, you’re just going to have the most-expensive crappy shoes on the market, so why bother? There are exceptions, but it’s a decent signal.