Bar Code Info

[R. Richard]

If you want to know where something is made, you may refer to the bar code. If the first 3 digits are:

690 - 692 … then it is MADE IN CHINA .
00x - 09x … USA & CANADA
30x - 37x … FRANCE
40x - 44x … GERMANY
47x ... Taiwan
49x … JAPAN
50x … UK

 

[Lauren Hynde]

560 - Portugal

 

[DesertPirate]

I used to have a tire sheet.
You could tell the manufacturer by the DOT number on all tires.

 

[JamesSD]

If you want to know where something is made, you may refer to the bar code. If the first 3 digits are:

Somewhat useful, but also somewhat dated.

I assume the bar code would be where the finished product is made. So, for example, if Apple buys semiconductors from Korea (or wherever they are made), has a factory somewhere else making plastic shells, has those shipped to their plants in California where it is assembled, I presume they would get the USA UPC. How "American made" is that product?

Electronics and things with engines are probably the toughest for things like this; the more parts, the more points of origin. A strawberry grown in Mexico pretty much leaves Mexico in its final form. But what about strawberry ice cream made in the USA from mexican strawberries and american milk?

People who try to avoid products made in China for whatever reason (politics, patriotism, safety concerns) are often frustrated to find that even when something isn't technically "made in china", it often contains parts that were made there.

 

[Handley_Page]

A similar view was expressed in the UK some while ago. Gradually, legislation both home and EU got us "assembled in UK" or wherever. Of course, many makers don't bother too much, rather sadly.