According to the Alliance for American Manufacturing, 95% of Americans have a favorable view of U.S.-made products, and 91% of voters favor "buy American" policies for government procurement.

That said, today most optical products, including ophthalmic lenses, continue to be manufactured overseas.

However, there are a few lens products manufactured in the U.S. Arguably, any digitally-produced lens could be called “made in America” because the lenses are fabricated here, but finding lens materials that are manufactured in the U.S. is another story.

EB has discovered some lenses that are made in America through the entire process, and spoke with company executives to find out the advantages of doing ground-up lens manufacturing in the U.S.A.
 
Essilor of America, Dallas, TX
EOA reports that it has two U.S. lens manufacturing plants within its lab network: Gentex and Xcel. The majority of lenses produced at these facilities are sold in the U.S. market.
 
United Contact Lens, Arlington, WA
UCL develops and produces specialty soft contact lenses including private label, pediatric, spherical, toric, multifocal toric and aspheric, bifocal sphere and toric, tinted and opaque colors, bandage lenses, and others. Its new ReLax lens is designed to neutralize blue light.
“We believe the USA is the best place to be; we have a niche with custom soft contacts,” says Neal Cook, president and owner of UCL. “Product and people are important. Our family-owned business, launched in the U.S. in 1974, has experienced employees who can expertly help customers. We have manufacturing, fitting, and consultation all under one roof. This makes it easy on customers as they can get precisely what they want.”
 
Vision Ease, Ramsey, MN
Vision Ease lenses manufactured in the U.S. include LifeRx polycarbonate photochromic (excluding FSVAR), SunRx poly polarized, Coppertone poly polarized, and Novel and Novella poly progressives. The company has also set a sustainability standard for manufacturing in the lens industry, integrating environmentally responsible products and practices. One example is reducing carbon emissions in office space and on the plant floor by more than 99 percent
“Our U.S. manufacturing facility is instrumental in helping us provide industry-leading service to our U.S. customer base,” says Cass Lundgren, vice president of global operations. “Our position in the U.S. helps us provide superior service and tailored offerings for each of our customers to allow them to compete and win in our market.”
  [Note: This piece was aided by research conducted by Amy Endo, OO (Ophthalmic Optician), at the office of Edwin Y. Endo & Associates in Aiea, HI.]