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I will never forget my visit to a South Carolina plant of Milliken & Co., the textile giant. Chairman Roger Milliken had just launched a well-publicized “Buy American” campaign, proclaiming that “cheap” foreign imports were a major threat to industry and jobs in this country.
What impressed me most during my plant tour was that so many of Milliken’s knitting and spinning machines were made in Belgium, France and Japan. When I pointed this out, one of the executives guiding me shrugged. He said that, of course, Milliken shopped all over the world to get the best machines at the best price. “Exactly,” I responded “Everybody wants to get the best deal, whether buying plant machinery in France or a new dress from K Mart. And sometimes the best deals – like your machines-come from overseas.” - Walter E. Williams
Reader’s Digest, May 1993, page 197