Is "Made in the USA" an advantage for your specialty brand?

I made two recent specialty brand purchases that were completely unrelated except in one key respect: a major driver in both the sales strategy and in my purchase decision was the fact that the items were made in the USA. Bear with me — my purpose is not to take sides in a political debate or to discuss the merits of open global economy versus protectionist ideologies. However, strictly from a marketer's point of view, it may be important to recognize that in our current economy, "made in the USA" could offer a competitive advantage over other brands that are made off-shore. Shoppers may even be inclined to spend more on a domestically made product than they normally might if they feel they are helping to improve the U.S. employment picture with their purchases.
 
In the case of my two recent purchases — a banjo and a mattress — I found myself discussing the features and benefits of each with the salespeople at the respective specialty retail stores. In both cases, as different as those purchases were, there was one common denominator that ended up heavily influencing my purchase decisions: these products were made in the USA. The interesting thing was that I did not go into the shopping process with "made in the USA" as a criterion for either purchase — frankly, I hadn't given it any thought whatsoever. But in each instance the salesperson brought it up, without being pushy in any way, by simply mentioning that the product was made in the United States. And I ended up purchasing the domestically made banjo and mattress — and paying a bit more for both in the process — because I was interested in helping preserve some American jobs, especially in this time when many of our friends and neighbors have been adversely affected by the employment situation.
 
So if your specialty brand has products that are "made in the USA," don't hesitate to let people know. You don't have to scream it, and you don't want to make it a guilt trip — just let shoppers and your retail partners know so they can form their recommendations and purchase decisions accordingly.