Patriotic 9/11 pins are made in China

Arizona Star Daily
Aug. 27, 2005

Lapel pins sold in Arizona as a patriotic reminder of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on this country are actually being made overseas.

In China, specifically.

The pins, which sell for $5 each to help raise money for an Arizona memorial to the 9/11 attacks, were ordered from a Tucson firm that specializes in lapel reminders.

Billy Shields, a member of the commission formed to build the memorial, said Sid Leluan, owner of Lapel Pins and More, gave the commission a great deal, minting them for 61 cents each.

But Shields said he didn't know until the pins were already ordered - and, in fact, on their way to the commission - that they were not being made at the Tucson firm.

Gov. Janet Napolitano, who last month publicly asked Arizonans to buy the pins, said no one told her before her press conference that they were made in China.

In fact, speakers at the press conference made a big point of telling reporters how the pins were made by a Tucson firm.

But Napolitano said she doesn't want concerns about where the pins were manufactured to become an issue.

"The major point is to raise money so that Arizona would have a 9/11 memorial, so that future generations will remember what happened on 9/11 and how many lives were affected and how it changed life in our country," Napolitano said.

"People ought to keep their eye on the ball: What's the memorial for?" she said.

Shields said even if he had known ahead of time the pins were to be made overseas, it probably would not have made any difference because that appears the only way to get a price that makes sense.

Leluan said it's a simple matter of economics.

He said the pins are made with an injection process. It costs $225 to make the die in China while a similar process in the United States runs about $800.

But that's not the biggest consideration in deciding to outsource the job overseas.

Leluan said the pin is double plated, meaning it has gone through the process twice. Manufacturers here want upward of $2 for such a process, he said, not including the cost of the raw material.

"While it turns the jaw of some people to have things made overseas - and even some especially to have them made in China - regrettably there's nothing we can do to offer a product to domestic folks at a reasonable price," he said.

Leluan's assessment of the problem is not unique. Several lapel pin manufacturers called at random said their products are also produced in China.

"We used to be able to get things made in Taiwan," said Leluan, who has owned the company for 21 years. But then, he said, the Chinese government let Taiwanese companies own plants on the mainland, where labor is even cheaper.

Leluan said the Arizona pins are made at one of those Taiwanese-owned plants, if that helps people feel better about where they came from.

Shields said that about 4,000 pins have been sold so far, along with about 1,000 $1 bumper stickers. Including donations, he said the fund now stands at about $25,500.

He said he hopes to expand the locations of the pin sales, now available only at Bashas' supermarkets.