Amazon Prime Day is an annual two-day shopping event for Prime members. You’ll find thousands of deals on technology, from headphones to smart home devices.

The colossal bonanza of discounts runs from July 12-13 this year, but you don’t have to wait until then to grab some great deals. Tap or click here for 50+ can’t-miss Prime Day discounts.

Maybe you’re feeling patriotic since the 4th of July is right around the corner. You want to support American sellers and avoid Chinese companies when shopping for the 2022 sale. These tips can help you shop ethically when you take advantage of summer shopping events.

First, some general tips

Shopping online while avoiding Chinese products is like tiptoeing around a minefield. Not only are they everywhere, but they can be hard to recognize.

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

1. Don’t trust an online store‘s search engine. Amazon is notorious for throwing Chinese products in search results for “not made in China” or “made in the USA.” Many online marketplaces have the same problem.
2. Beware of misleading labels. Don’t fall for a product that says “Made in USA” or “Assembled in USA” Only trust a product that says “Made in USA”.
3. Use online forums. Sometimes the databases will be insufficient and your search will return nothing. Reach out to online communities like r/avoidchineseproducts on Reddit.
4. Barcodes can fool you. A popular tip is something like, “Take a product and look at the barcode. If the first three digits are 690, 691 or 692, it’s Chinese. Look for barcodes that start from 00 to 09. These are American. This advice is partly wrong. Barcodes uniquely identify the country of origin of the manufacturing company. The barcode of a product does not reveal its place of manufacture.

Bottom line: You have to think critically to avoid Chinese products. Luckily, we’ve done a lot of heavy lifting for you. Here are four free tools to help you avoid Chinese sellers and support US merchants instead.

1. If you want to avoid Chinese products, start with this site

Not sure how to tell if a product is made in the USA? Made in America Directory is the site for you. Simply put, it identifies whether a product was made in the United States or not.

Simply enter the name of the product or company you are interested in in the search bar:

Scroll down to see your search results. It’s probably not a product made in the USA if you receive this message: “Sorry, your search did not return any results.”

Of course, the database may simply not contain the product you are looking for. To be sure, check out the other methods in this guide.

2. America forever, China never

If you want to know how to check if a product is made in China, explore ChinaNever.com. This website also identifies US companies that manufacture their products in China. Its front page explains why you might want to boycott Chinese products:

If any of these reasons appeal to you, this website has a free tool to help you avoid buying products from China. Its purchase verifier verifies where the products are produced. Site owners regularly update this tool with new brands.

Using the website is easy. Start by selecting a category from the thumbnails on the homepage. You will get a list of companies that manufacture this product outside of China.

For example, if you click on Audio and TV, you will see a list of headphones not made in China. Check it out:

Although this is the most popular directory of brands that are not made in China, there is a downside. The site is a bit outdated. You may need to scroll down to the comments section to see if the brands still manufacture in the United States, Canada, or the European Union.

Planning to shop during Amazon Prime Day? Tap or click here for 10 early Amazon Prime Day deals you should grab before they’re gone.

3. Find out where more than 100,000 products come from

The ProductFrom website is the perfect solution for anyone wondering, “How do I know if a product is from China?” or “How do you find where a product was made?”

At the time of writing, this comprehensive database is huge. (Last time we wrote about this, ProductFrom only had 80,000 devices.) Now it covers:

• 104,791 products
• 1,702 brands
• 886 categories
• 103 countries

Check out this screenshot of the homepage. Your search options are in the top right corner.

Search by product category, brand name, country of origin or product name. If you have a specific item in mind, hit the search icon and enter the product. If the product is in the database, you will find where it came from.

4. Buy products that tell you exactly where they come from

This database is straight to the point. You can search The Not Made in China Directory for brands and products that clearly disclose their country of origin.

This handy directory covers a wide range of products. You don’t have to ask yourself, “Is there a website where I can buy products that are not made in China?” Use this site to find out which Chinese products to avoid.

You now know how to avoid Chinese products this July 4th

Use these four databases to find products made in the United States. With these tools on your belt, you can support American businesses this 4th of July. In fact, they can help you all year round.

Just keep these databases in mind when filling your online shopping cart. If you see a brand or product you are unsure about, run the name against one of these databases. You will know whether it is made in America or overseas.

You might also like: Get $20 Amazon Prime Day Discount When You Try Amazon Photos