Walmart makes major commitment to U.S. manufacturing

Walmart will spend $350 billion in the next 10 years on items made, grown or assembled in the U.S.

The discount giant, which launched its first commitment to purchase more U.S.-made products in 1985 and committed to spending $250 billion on domestic merchandise in 2013, is continuing this effort with its latest pledge. Walmart estimates that this spend will support more than 750,000 new American jobs. 

Walmart is also launching a concept its calls “American Lighthouses,” which will bring together key stakeholders in specific regions of the country to identify and overcome top-down barriers to U.S. production. Lighthouses will include participants from the supplier community (such as manufacturers and non-governmental organizations), as well as from academia, government, and local economic development groups. 

The company says its aim is to bring U.S. manufacturing back in a sustainable, long-term way. In addition, Walmart estimates it will avoid 100 million metric tons of CO2 emissions by sourcing closer to its customers.

“U.S. manufacturing really matters,” said John Furner, president & CEO, Walmart U.S., in a corporate blog post. “It matters to our suppliers, to entrepreneurs and to the environment. It matters to our customers - more than 85% of which have said it’s important for us to carry products made or assembled in the U.S. And most of all, because of the jobs it brings, it matters to American communities and the people who live in them.”