While thawing glaciers release explosive methane that destroys the ozone and icebergs the size of Vermont threaten to increase sea levels by inches, Donald Trump kept his promise to withdraw America, the world’s second-leading producer of carbon emissions, from the Paris Agreement on climate change. Apparently, Trump’s America is too good or too greedy to care for the Earth we all call home.

Thanks to Trump’s uninformed decision, he’s actually made China and the European Union look good. Despite China and the EU ranked first and third in carbon emissions, respectively, they intend to form an alliance to further lower global carbon emissions. Both are still committed to the terms negotiated in the Paris Agreement, and the EU has even offered China $11.2 million to support China’s plan to cut carbon emissions.

So America is becoming imperial China, and communist China is becoming America, and not just when it comes to climate change. This sudden love of American nationalism is simply the American version of Chinese sinocentrism. But believing you are the center of the world does not make it so, and there are plenty of disadvantages associated with that arrogance.

Trump’s nationalism is making it more difficult for America to do business overseas everyday. He hopes to create American jobs but shrinks the market for American goods every time he does something like leave the Paris Agreement or Tweets about the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) or any other trade agreement. If you don’t think trade partners take notice of that and act accordingly, you’re as ignorant as you are arrogant.

The things Americans perceive to be necessities are not made in America. Computers, televisions, mobile phones, handheld devices and their components are mostly made in Asia. As of 2011, China produced over 90 percent of all personal computers, 80 percent of all air conditioners, 80 percent of energy-saving light bulbs, 74 percent of solar cell production, and over 70 percent of all mobile phones. Do you think the prices of those items will increase or decrease as a result of China spending to limit carbon emissions while America does nothing to curb climate change?

Think we can build those things here in America? Think again. An American-made iPhone would cost $2,000 because Apple pays a little over $5 to construct a $600 phone. The whole idea of bringing back American production jobs is preposterous, which is why Trump’s nationalistic words and actions are so dangerous. Unlike China, America doesn’t have the production-based economy to back up its nationalism. If the things Americans needed were actually made in America by Americans, then sinocentrism would make sense. But that’s not the case at all. In fact, America depends on its trade agreements like NAFTA, and those agreements are not the reason for decreasing production jobs. NAFTA has been particularly good to farmers and ranchers and those in the automotive industry. Yet many of these farmers and ranchers and automotive workers supported Trump for uninformed or misguided reasons.

America made its bed with foreign automakers long ago, offering deep tax cuts and free money to build giant plants to put Americans to work building foreign cars. That’s not a recipe for success if one of your nation’s cornerstone industries is automobiles. That also can’t be undone, so bitching about the lack of auto exports because America doesn’t have the same deals in place with those automakers who fleeced the U.S. will get us nowhere. Building an automobile that everyone in the world wants will, however, allow for increased auto exports, and I fully expect the Tesla Model 3 to be that automobile. Hell, if Americans could get over their uninformed or misguided opinion that American cars aren’t as reliable or “nice” as foreign cars, there’d be little reason to bitch about the state of the auto industry. Frankly, if you’re an American driving anything but American, we should ship you overseas, not the cars.

America can also take pride in decreasing petroleum imports. The Tesla Model 3 should continue contributing to this decline, as will the Tesla Solar Roof and the fastest growing industry in America -- renewable energy. When America’s strongest industry’s mission is quite literally curbing climate change, there’s no need to risk relations with trade partners by withdrawing from a climate change agreement. It’s oxymoronic, but that’s what we’ve come to expect from Trump.

Cutting yourself off from the world and doing whatever the hell you please doesn’t mean you’re the only place in the world. You still have neighbors to whom you have to placate, and whether you acknowledge their existence or not, that doesn’t mean they don’t have a way of fighting back. I fully expect America’s imports of Chinese products to increase from the current $462.8 billion figure specifically due to a raise in cost and not in quantity. That’s what I would do to a trade partner who said he was going to help me do something and then didn’t.

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Unless you live in a nudist colony, you’ll likely need clothes to make it in America. If you’ve been following along with our “Made in America” series, you’ll know that we’ve already covered American-made forms of transportation, including shoes, home decor and appliances made in the U.S.A., the all-American home, home-grown food and energy, and even American-made vices like alcohol and tobacco. We haven’t forgotten about clothing, which is one of the hardest things to find with “Made in the U.S.A.” on the tag. Chances are slim what you’re wearing now has “Made in the U.S.A.” on the tag.

Clothing keeps us warm, dry and covered, but if Americans made all the clothing purchased in the world, no one would be able to afford it. That’s why it’s so common to find clothes made in Bangladesh, India, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and, of course, China.

The American clothing market is the largest in the world, totalling $359 billion in 2016, which is why it’s so important to keep those dollars here in America. Employment has nearly doubled in apparel manufacturing, textiles and clothing since 1990, because with more people comes more clothes. But just 1.8 million Americans are employed in the fashion industry, with 79 percent of them working for apparel retailers mostly selling imported products. Just 232,000 are employed to manufacture textiles for apparel and other fashion items (purses, handbags, backpacks, etc.).

In order to change the growing trend of outsourcing fashion and clothing manufacturing, more Americans need to buy more American clothes, and there’s plenty of places to start.

Underwear

American-made men’s underwear is pretty easy to find. Brad Bennett at the Well Spent blog put together a nice list of American options. Keep in mind that just because a company has an American-sounding name, like Duluth Trading Company (mostly made in Vietnam, but they do have a “USA Made” section) or American Eagle (made in China, Guatemala, India, and Vietnam, with some made in America) doesn’t mean it’s products are all-American. Do your research. The only thing that touches American skin should be American-made.

There are plenty of options for American-made women’s underwear, too, including lingerie. HerRoom and HisRoom allows you to search multiple companies’ catalogs for American-made products. For a complete list of American-made underwear companies visit here.

Socks

During the spring, winter and autumn months, there’s no more important stitch of clothing than dry socks. I don’t wear socks for most of the summer unless it rains, but when it comes to keeping my feet warm and dry, I’m a wool man. Wool is the absolute best fabric ever, but the U.S. doesn’t produce much of it. If more people bought more wool, though, maybe it would make a comeback in America.

As I stated earlier, Duluth Trading Company makes some of its products in the U.S.A., and the most common item on their “USA Made” page is socks. If there’s a place that knows cold, it’s Minnesota, but if you’re looking for the best socks on the planet, I’d suggest Darn Tough socks. I recommend them because I have a friend from Vermont, where Darn Tough socks are made, who maintains trails in Glacier National Park, and he swears by them. If there’s an environment that requires darn tough socks, it’s Vermont. It’s the seventh coldest state in America and can be one of the wettest in the spring. Plus, Darn Tough socks are guaranteed for life, so if you manage to put a hole in them, you can return them for another pair. You’ll never buy socks again.

If you’re looking for more fashionable options for men and women, Fox River is the oldest performance sock brand out there. What started as a sock company for lumberjacks 116 years ago is now an all-purpose, sock supplier. They sent out a pair of their Peak Series Lightweight Multisport ankle socks for me to try, and except for them being a little long in the sole, they very comfortable for both the office and the bicycle commute. The "helix fit" as they call it provides volumetric compression around the foot between the ankle and toes. The mesh ventilation zones allow your feet to breathe, and the EverWear Durability Shield on the back of the sock above the heel is a neat feature that should prevent holes in the area that rubs against your shoe. For women’s socks visit here, and if you’re seeking hosiery, tights or leggings, No Nonsense provides an ample supply of American-made products for women. If you’re a man in need of dress socks, look no further than Dapper Classics, which also produces American-made shirts and ties for the office.

Tops and Bottoms

There is a plethora of men’s pants and shirts, women’s dresses and blouses, children’s clothes and even maternity wear made in America. The easiest thing you can do to find American-made options from your favorite retailers is enter “Made in the USA” in their catalog’s search bar. Most online stores like Nordstrom, Lulu’s and Orvis, understand the importance of catering to patriotic purchasers and have a dedicated page for American-made products. If you’re into sportswear, and specifically throwback baseball uniforms and caps, Ebbets Field Flannels is one of my new favorite American stores. There you can buy jerseys you didn't know existed.

Outerwear

USA Love List put together a great list of American-made outerwear for women recently, and if you’re a leather man, Schott NYC has everything from jackets, belts and boots made in America.  Woolrich also provides a page of outdoorsy, clothing products made in the U.S.A. If you’re more into designer trends, The Good Trade put together a list of 15 American-made clothing brands that will turn heads, and GQ has a list of American clothing brands just for men. The most complete Made in America men’s wear list is likely this one by Gear Patrol. Here’s a recent list of more than 100 brands that produce 100 percent of their clothing in America.

So now you have no reason to purchase clothing that isn’t made in America other than cost, but wages in areas where clothes are made are increasing, while American wages remain stagnant, which means American-made clothing will at least be more competitive with imported clothing in the future. So don’t be the typical cheap American when it comes to clothing. I guarantee if you buy the brands listed above, you’ll get more life out of your clothing and more satisfaction for creating American jobs, too.

Next up in our “Made in America” series we’ll look at the best brands for recreation equipment, including guns and ammo, ATVs, tents, backpacks, sleeping bags and the like.

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After signing an executive order to limit the number of H-1B immigrants (immigrants working jobs requiring at least a Bachelor’s degree), Donald Trump signed Congress’s temporary spending bill that allows for more than double the number of H-2B immigrants (immigrants working jobs that don’t even require a high school education).

This is nothing new, as it’s the same policy passed in the last spending bill, but Trump didn’t exactly do much to alter the policy despite being in a position to do so. Why would he? Allowing even more immigrants to serve as temporary employees at cheaper wages will make his CEO friends happy, but it should infuriate Americans. It certainly assures that the 11.5 percent youth (ages 16 to 24) unemployment rate will remain mostly unchanged.

These H-2B jobs, like working at winter or summer resorts in guest services or as a housekeeper or groundskeeper, used to be filled by high school and college students looking to make a buck while going to school. Some of them are saving for a college education that has grown increasingly unaffordable. Now the money goes to temporary immigrants who will take it home with them when they’re no longer needed. They can serve up to three years on an H-2B visa, but then only have to leave the United States for three months before reapplying. From the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website:

“A person who has held H-2B nonimmigrant status for a total of 3 years must depart and remain outside the United States for an uninterrupted period of 3 months before seeking readmission as an H-2B nonimmigrant. Additionally, previous time spent in other H or L classifications counts toward total H-2B time.”

When you elect an American businessman to be the most powerful person in the world, you are submitting this country and others to the business practices of an American businessman. Those practices include hiring cheap, immigrant labor (Trump businesses have asked the government to grant temporary visas to 1,200 foreign workers since 2000), lowering taxes for corporations and the rich and raising them for the middle class (Trump’s tax plan cronies are considering eliminating the personal exemption and reduce the top corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 15 percent), and allowing internet service providers to monitor your online history and sell it to advertisers.

At least medical marijuana jobs won’t be affected by the spending bill, though. The Department of Justice still can’t spend funds enforcing federal marijuana law upon state’s that have legalized medical marijuana, but no protections exist for states with recreational marijuana policies.

Alaskan fisher-people should also be happy, as the spending bill has made the “brown king crab” more appealing by allowing it to be called “golden king crab.” Young Americans will also be subjected to school breakfasts and lunches featuring more sugar and fat thanks to new Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue freezing Michelle Obama’s plan to fight childhood obesity. Welcome to Trump's America, where under-educated Americans lose jobs to under-educated immigrants, under-paid Americans pay more taxes than over-paid Americans, and diabetes runs rampant.

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So you’ve built the all-American home, furnished it with American-made appliances and furniture, filled the fridge with food made in the U.S.A. and use American energy sources to run your appliances, lights and heat. But America is vast, and you want to see it all.

If you tried to travel 2,680 miles in any direction in almost any country, you’d end up in an ocean. But not in America. The U.S.A. is known for its diversity, both demographically and geographically. That geographic diversity wouldn’t be possible if America wasn’t the third largest nation. That vastness requires transportation solutions in order for Americans to see their nation.

American-made Shoes

When you’re not going far, you can walk in American-made shoes. I would recommend Keen for all-purpose shoes. I’ve been wearing a pair I got at an REI garage sale for about five years. Red Wing and Wolverine make the best boots money can buy. My dad has worn Red Wing boots to work for over 40 years and has a pair of Wolverine galoshes for wet days. Schnee’s in Bozeman, Montana, makes the best hiking boots I’ve seen. There aren’t many options for sneakers made in America, but SOM Footwear is one, and some of the previously mentioned companies have expanded their catalog to include a few pairs of everyday shoes. If you prefer to bear your feet and walk like Jesus, Okabashi makes 100-percent recyclable sandals and flip-flops right here in the U.S.A.

Bicycles Made in the U.S.A.

You really can bike from one edge of America to the other. People do it every summer for about $5,000. It’s understandable if that’s not your idea of fun, but I urge every American to bike to work or the store when they can. It will save you money, and it’s great for Americans and America, especially if you do it on an American-made bicycle.

I haven’t owned a bicycle made in the U.S.A. since I was a kid because Huffy has since moved its factories to China. Even great bikes like Surly have their components made in Taiwan and are only constructed in Minnesota. But since I can’t recommend an American-made bicycle, Inside Hook has provided a recent list of the top five bicycles made in America. Firefly is the only one on the list I recognize.

Public Transportation in America

I take public transportation as often as I can because it’s better for the environment and employs nearly 400,000 Americans, according to the American Public Transportation Association. Think about this: every person on a bus or train is generally one less car on the road. It’s the easiest way to decrease car traffic and emissions, so we can continue to breathe clean air.

Public transportation is also incredibly convenient. I have a bus stop just down the street from my house, and I can ride one bus all the way from the Mall of America to Target Field in less than an hour for less than $2. I can even load up my bike and ride to and from the bus. I even get to read while riding a bus or train, so I’m using that extra time more constructively. But 45 percent of people don’t have access to public transportation because it’s not available where they live, which is why we own so many automobiles. (If you’d like to remedy the lack of public transportation access in America, visit Voices for Public Transit.)

American Automobiles

The American automobile industry is a driving force of America. The automobile industry is the seventh largest in the world according to Forbes, and half of the Dow Jones Industrial Index companies rely on automobiles to create revenue. The automobile industry contributes nearly a trillion dollars to the American economy each year and is responsible for 7.25 million American jobs, according to AutoAlliance.org. But many Americans perceive American cars to be inferior to foreign cars. They’re wrong.

I’m not one to use personal experience to make an argument often, but if you don’t think General Motors makes a quality car, say that to my face when I’m behind the wheel of my 1957 Chevy 210. Toyota exported its first car, the Toyopet Crown, to America in 1957. A CNN Money slideshow informs that “Toyota soon recognized that the Toyopet really didn't warrant being taken seriously, whatever it was called. It was underpowered, uncomfortable, lacking in even basic amenities, and it cost more than better offerings from European competitors.”

From the Crown Wikipedia page: “As a publicity stunt to demonstrate the car's reliability, Toyota staged a campaign common to American automakers: a coast-to-coast endurance run from Los Angeles to New York. The Toyopet was barely able to limp into Las Vegas before the project had to be called off.”

It doesn’t matter what decade, American automakers have made higher quality cars than their foreign competition. This list of former Motor Trend Car of the Year award winners proves it, with American automakers taking down 55 awards to the rest of the world’s nine. General Motors led the pack with 26 awards, Chrysler and Ford each scored 14, AMC added two and Tesla picked up one. Leading the rest of the world was Volkswagen with a whopping three awards, Toyota and Nissan had two, Honda and the French car company Citroen had one each. That’s right: AMC has the same number Motor Trend Car of the Year awards as Toyota and Nissan, and twice as many as Honda.

Again, if you don’t think American automakers make quality cars, consider my 2004 Ford Taurus with over 202,000 miles, no body rust, no interior damage and no major issues. I’ve replaced the starter and AC pump. That’s it. Compare that to my dad’s 2007 Mazda with 120,000 miles and body pieces falling off due to cheap, plastic clips holding it together. Consider my father’s 2005 Ford F-150 with over 180,000 miles. He just put significant money into it for the first time, replacing the front end when his four-wheel drive went out during one of the snowiest winters Eastern Montana has seen in decades.

So now that your perceived quality of American automobiles is no longer misinformed, let’s explain why it’s so important for Americans to buy American automobiles. Too many Americans think buying American-made cars doesn’t matter for America because foreign automakers are hiring Americans to construct their cars in America, too. They’re wrong.

According to Roger Simmermaker’s How Americans Can Buy American: The Power of Consumer Patriotism, “When you buy an American-made Chevy, you not only support more American workers, you also support American investors, owners, and stockholders. When you buy an American-made Toyota, you may help your Uncle Bob if he’s on Toyota’s payroll, but you’re hurting Uncle Sam since American companies pay about three times as many taxes to the U.S. Treasury as do foreign-owned companies.” That doesn’t even include the insane amount of tax breaks foreign automakers have gotten to open production facilities in the U.S.A.

From Forbes: “Alabama offered Mercedes-Benz more than $250 million worth of tax breaks, training and land, and South Carolina won BMW’s only U.S. plant with state incentives worth more than $130 million, according to a 2008 report by the University of South Carolina Moore School of Business. The gifts to Kia that helped win the plant for Georgia total more than $258 million.”

Most importantly, American automakers employ more Americans -- nearly three times more than foreign automakers as of 2012. The jobs putting the cars together aren’t the only ones that matter, though. Plenty of materials go into making a car, so the more materials used that are made in America, the more American jobs are created. Simmermaker cites a 2002 Business Week story that states “each auto-assembly created by an American company also creates 6.9 other American jobs, where each auto-assembly job created by a foreign company creates only 5.5 other American jobs.”

While there isn’t a car entirely made in America, the Tesla Model 3 is likely to become the most American car on the road, with 95 percent of its parts made in the U.S.A. You can find out how much of each 2013 car was made from materials made in the U.S.A. by visiting here. No surprise, General Motors tops the list, with Ford and Chrysler filling out the top 10. Toyota has the only foreign car in the top 10, and Chrysler is now Italian-owned.

So I hope the next time you’re buying a car, whether new or used, you buy American, because you’re supporting American jobs when you do.

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Donald Trump is in the battleground state of Wisconsin to sign an executive order that will reportedly make it harder for technology companies to hire cheaper, high-skilled workers from overseas and prioritize the hiring of American workers and strengthen rules to make sure government contracts are awarded to American contractors.

Trump and White House officials have targeted the H-1B visa for high-skilled, foreign workers, which will even affect Trump himself. His own company takes advantage of the H-1B visa at his hotels, golf courses and vineyard. According to a CNN Money investigation conducted in July 2016, Trump utilized the visa to import 1,256 workers over 15 years. One of Trump’s campaign promises was to end the H-1B visa as a cheap labor program, but according to a study by Brookings Institute researchers, H-1B job vacancies are harder to fill and H-1B workers are paid more than non-H-1B workers, with wage growth much higher than the national average. Here are some answers to criticisms brought against the study and here’s a comparable study that comes to the same conclusion.

According to WorkPermit.com, the U.S. H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows American companies to employ graduate level workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in specialized fields such as in IT, finance, accounting, architecture, engineering, mathematics, science, medicine, etc. Any professional level job that usually requires a Bachelor’s degree or higher can come under the H-1B visa for specialty occupations, but if a foreign worker does not have a Bachelor’s degree, they may still be able to show degree equivalence through work experience or other qualifications.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it received 199,000 petitions for 85,000 slots during this year’s H-1B visa lottery. Last year, the agency received 236,000 applications. Indian outsourcing firms such as Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro receive most of the visas because they submit the most applications to increase their chances.

Technology companies have long complained of a lack of a highly educated and skilled American workers as a reason for taking advantage of the H-1B program, but there are also companies taking advantage of it. Regardless, American technology companies could get around all of this by hiring foreign workers to work remotely from their home countries.

Supporters of the H-1B visa program say Trump’s executive order will make it harder and more expensive for businesses to find adequate workers, while the opposition says Trump’s order doesn’t go far enough. If more is to be done, however, Congress will have to get involved. Several bills have been introduced to overhaul the visa program. One presented by Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin and Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley would require companies seeking H-1B visas to make a “good-faith effort” to hire Americans prior to exploring foreign workers. What constitutes a “good-faith effort” will be determined by the Labor Department. The bill would also give foreign students studying in the U.S. the upper hand when applying for H-1B visas.

H-1B visas shouldn’t be confused with the H-2B visa program, which does allow companies like beach and ski resorts to import cheaper, low-skilled labor to serve seasonal positions. Hotels, resorts, restaurants, construction companies and seafood processors got a big boost when a spending bill was approved last year that allows for anyone who obtained an H-2B visa in the last three years to retain it and not count towards the 66,000 visa cap. These jobs will still go to immigrants who will do the work for less. That’s why every time you ski Montana or Colorado or California or Utah there’s rarely a local to be found in uniform. Yet the price of admission never seems to reflect the lower cost of the labor.

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