here's my take on this. this metaphor probably won't work,but here goes.
you used to see a lot of commercials touting the little jingle, the union label
http://archive.southcoasttoday.com/daily/06-04/06-02-04/l02ca230.htm
to me, americans just don't care. i was discussing illegal aliens with three of my neighbors who use them extensively. american labor is just too expensive they complain. it wouldn't be, if laws were enforced. beef markets can massage the numbers by sourcing meats from differents places to keep distribution lines running smoothly. mandate country of origin and you will segment the display case into different countries which will evolve into less american made beef because it will cost more. i feel the free market should be encouraged to allow prominent packaging so that the segment who will actually purchase us products can do so easily. the one's who talk the talk but never purchase (they're the one's hiring the illegals at home depot) are the one's that are tearing america apart. they don't care if meat comes from the us. they are creating a two tiered society with good intentions. but free markets are not really free. they come with enforcement of contracts. there is insufficient pressure on capital assets in america to drive down the cost of production because it is tied so closely with mandated, yes mandated, growth. with a static population, speculative pricing on housing would go down, labor would have to shift both in illegals redistributing to other labor markets, but also, legal labor pools switching to other industries. i maintain that an uneducated public fooled into feeling on every issue rather than thinking, is ruining us and our reputation because we no longer have any principles, nor are we allowed to as multiculturalism and moral relativism takes over our schools with no actual debate on issues occurring, only constant testing. we can't even judge that stoning to death is bad, because we have the death penalty, and for goodness sakes, who are we to judge? i also maintain that we can no longer come up with a document like the declaration of independence or the constitution and the bill of rights because we are more interested in polls, rather than consequences, and therefore with each person converted to capitalism comes 10 more that have little concept or respect for the rule of law. when everything is ok except limits, you will see anarchy. heads will be on pikes and no one will every remember it was about life, liberty, and the pursuit of property (changed to happiness by one of the greatest hypocrites and cowards, T. Jefferson).
the cost of production is always lower in the long run if markets determine the set points, rather than government manipulation, which always places a ceiling on the producer so they can predictably redistribute price manipulated products to the poor. true socialism. true incentive elimination.
it's very easy to solve this problem. who cares if BK, mcdonalds walmart, costco uses the lowest quality meat. the USDA stamp can only be used on the kill floor in the US. let all others come up with a system that conforms to our standards, but it has to be called something else. place the added cost on the imported product rather than the other way around. consumer reports and other information distribution outlets will let the consumer know where their antifreeze is located!!!!!!! then, when problems occur, they will have to adjust, absorb the cost of c*%p, and rationalize to the american public the voracity of their product. we change nothing, all other products change. in other words, the unlabeled product is the better product, not the other way around.