Country of origin USA doesn't mean USA made

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Alpha3

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On several occasions I have complained to knife sellers that "Country of Origin : USA" is purposely ambiguous and vague and that they need to return to "Made in the USA". But they ignore my complaint and continue this trend. We as a knife community need to pressure them into changing their ways. I own knives made in the USA and many other countries, so this isn't about buy American, it's about truth in advertising. If a company or individual designs a knife in the USA, has it built overseas, and then quality controls it and ships it in the USA, they say the knife's origin was in the USA. In my mind this is false advertising.

I was/am interested in Chaves Knives. On the site I buy knives from the knife is listed as Country of Origin USA. But when I went to the Chaves web site to learn about them they say "Each model was designed by USA-based knifemaker Ramon Chavez. ... The line is manufactured by Reate ..."

Enough of this county of origin crap, it's time for us to return to Made in the USA.

Your thoughts?
 
This whole conversation is kind of a moot point. Is everything you buy made in America?

How about the phone or computer you're online with right now? I would rather them admit that it says "country of origin."

Can all of it be made here? Sure it can and you also need to know that it will cost more.
 
jbmonkey said:
doesnt Chavez have some made here, some in china? im not a fan of his work, so I dont follow his stuff.....


wasting time should be frowned on. here this will make up for it......

In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some
advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since.
“Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,” he told me, “just re-
member that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages
that you’ve had.”
He didn’t say any more but we’ve always been unusually commu-
nicative in a reserved way, and I understood that he meant a great deal
more than that. In consequence I’m inclined to reserve all judgments,
a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made
me the victim of not a few veteran bores. The abnormal mind is quick
to detect and attach itself to this quality when it appears in a normal
person, and so it came about that in college I was unjustly accused of
being a politician, because I was privy to the secret griefs of wild, un-
known men. Most of the confidences were unsought–frequently I
have feigned sleep, preoccupation, or a hostile levity when I realized
by some unmistakable sign that an intimate revelation was quivering
on the horizon–for the intimate revelations of young men or at least
the terms in which they express them are usually plagiaristic and
marred by obvious suppressions. Reserving judgments is a matter of
infinite hope. I am still a little afraid of missing something if I forget
that, as my father snobbishly suggested, and I snobbishly repeat a sense
of the fundamental decencies is parcelled out unequally at birth.
Click to expand...
Proper attribution is proper. 😉 The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
 
Sounds like semantics. Country of origin USA means the same thing as made in USA until you dissect the variables. As for what you put on the blade, well I wouldn't put country of origin on any blade no matter where it's from. Too much info. Made in (insert country) is all you need for IDing the region.
 
Mk-211 said:
This whole conversation is kind of a moot point. Is everything you buy made in America?

How about the phone or computer you're online with right now? I would rather them admit that it says "country of origin."

Can all of it be made here? Sure it can and you also need to know that it will cost more.
Click to expand...
It’s not moot. All he wants, and what many want, is that there is proper reporting of country of assembly and country of manufacture, etc. Enough with the word games designed to wrap a Chinese knife in the American flag.
 
Companies will be continue to attempt to weasel word within the confines established by law and precedent...


AI Overview
"Made in the USA" means a product is "all or virtually all" manufactured in the United States, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
. This strict standard requires that all significant components, processing, and labor are domestic, with only negligible foreign content. It signifies the product was last substantially transformed within the US.
Federal Trade Commission (.gov)
Key Details Regarding the "Made in USA" Standard:
  • All or Virtually All: The FTC requires that the final assembly, processing, and all significant parts originate in the U.S..
  • Substantial Transformation: The product must undergo a fundamental change in the U.S., meaning simple assembly (e.g., just attaching parts) is not enough.
  • Voluntary vs. Official Labeling:
    There is no official pre-approval process, but marketers must have evidence to back up the claim.
    • Textiles and Auto Industry: Specific regulations apply; textiles are typically required to be cut and sewn in the U.S..
      International Trade Administration (.gov)
      International Trade Administration (.gov)
Click to expand...

  • Usage Examples and Variations:
  • "Made in USA" (unqualified): Implies 100% or "all or virtually all" domestic, or the closest possible equivalent.
  • "Made in USA of U.S. and Imported Parts": Used when the final product is built in the U.S. but contains significant components from abroad.
  • "Assembled in USA": Indicates that a product's final, significant assembly happens in the USA, but it may contain foreign components.
  • "Made in USA with Global Materials": Means final manufacturing occurs in the US, but the materials/raw components are sourced internationally.
    Federal Trade Commission (.gov)
    Federal Trade Commission (.gov)
Click to expand...
 
Yes, many will skirt the law or even cross the line because there are few consequences. I’ve only even seen punishments handed down to defense related companies. Small fry like knife companies don’t even pop up on radar. Same goes for counterfeits. Amazon, eBay, and Etsy are flooded with them and nothing is done by the websites or the government. Manpower, or budgetary issues are always mentioned, but I think it comes down to the cases not being career making cases.
 
It is a moot point as we live in a global economy. If you don't want a product made by China, do your due diligence, and ask, search...

If a company is outright lying about it, out them. From what the OP posted, they show Reate making their parts/whole knives.

Again, is everything you own, made in the USA? At what point, does the hypocrisy end?
 
We have lived in a global economy since the days of sail. Only now is one country attempting to become the source of all manufactured goods. They can never reach 100%, but they sure will try.
The companies hiding their sources are doing so to capture money that people like me would prefer to go to the ever shrinking home team. In plain language, those companies are liars.
 
SharpBits said:
Yes, many will skirt the law or even cross the line because there are few consequences. I’ve only even seen punishments handed down to defense related companies. Small fry like knife companies don’t even pop up on radar. Same goes for counterfeits. Amazon, eBay, and Etsy are flooded with them and nothing is done by the websites or the government. Manpower, or budgetary issues are always mentioned, but I think it comes down to the cases not being career making cases.
Click to expand...
Not my experience in bringing criminal cases to the U.S. Attorney's Office for 20+ years in NYC and South FL. Of course, career making cases are a boon. for agents and prosecutors, but the fact remains, (at least in my previous experience), that each case is judged on its merits, the potential outcome, and the resources available. There will always be a hierarchy in the sense that the "most important" cases will take precedence, and that is not unreasonable under the circumstances.
 
Blues said:
Not my experience in bringing criminal cases to the U.S. Attorney's Office for 20+ years in NYC and South FL. Of course, career making cases are a boon. for agents and prosecutors, but the fact remains, (at least in my previous experience), that each case is judged on its merits, the potential outcome, and the resources available. There will always be a hierarchy in the sense that the "most important" cases will take precedence, and that is not unreasonable under the circumstances.
Click to expand...
I believe the cases you were involved in were more of a life and death sort of a thing. Shady business practices don’t seem important to many.
 
Fellas, take the off-topic stuff to W&C please. (A few posts have been moved offline.)
 
And yes, I have purchased Chinese knives. Not many, but all were clearly marked as made in China. No word games or other shenanigans. I don’t mind buying from honest manufacturers.
 
SharpBits said:
I believe the cases you were involved in were more of a life and death sort of a thing. Shady business practices don’t seem important to many.
Click to expand...
I worked several areas of investigation and am very familiar with many that were not necessarily within my purview at any given point along the way.

Those included "fraud" cases which were handled by the group down the hall.
 
I always found the "our products are manufactured in Asia" statement that some websites/makers used to have entertaining. Asia can mean anything from Japan to Iran.
I do not know if this is still used.

Something similar happens with German products where you need to do some research to be sure it was mostly made in Solingen or whether they just used German steel etc.
 
This is typical of some manufactured goods now. DeWalt does it with power tools. Assembled in the U.S.A. from imported materials. So it is the way things are now.
 
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