As a general contractor, I buy more tools a year than I would like. When I was just a hand on the job site, my tools lasted me for years. Somewhere along the line over the last 10 years, we employers supply many of the hand tools to our gallant work force so they can leave them out in the rain, drop them off scaffolds, steal them, break them when they are made at me, and sometimes... use them as designed. So I buy a lot of tools. Tools I don't want to buy.
Back in '72 when I started in the trades, ALL hand tools were made in USA. And on all Union jobs, the tools had to be certified to be 100% made in USA with 100% USA made parts. Over the years, it was discovered that some tool manufacturers used "offshore" parts and that was finally accepted. Then tools started to come in from "offshore" that were pretty good tools at a little better price, so they gained acceptance. It was a ongoing, slow process, but the "offshore" guys gained market share and acceptance by manufacturing a good product at a good price. Economics is just as simple as "they don't pay crap" and "they use slaves". In my business, if the quality isn't there to keep your expensive workers going at it, the tools won't sell. The math is easy; if you have two guys that cost you $80 an hour, you can't have them stop for a couple of hours (or more) so you can replace a faulty tool.
So as time marched on, so did the acceptance of tools not made in the USA. Please look it up before responding, and read the packaging carefully on tools. Tools makers like DeWalt, Milwaukee, etc., all proudly have the Amercian flag on some of their packaging as they have some of their tools (DeWalt says some saws, some drills, some recip saws, some impact drivers, mostly the models for the big box stores) made in USA. More accurately, they are proudly "made" in USA from globally sourced parts. I watched a video supplied to the building community supplied by DeWalt, and they tout they have opened 7 new plants to "make" their tools here in the USA. Like I suspect many production knife makers do in the USA, they are screwing parts and pieces together from bins of the same from whomever makes them the cheapest.
I know the local tool rep for Ridgid tools (Home Depot, not the plumber's tools of which some are actually are made here) and his company, TTI, overseas the manufacture of many tool brands and operate the actual manufacture of same. He has worked for a few companies as a rep, and he told me that he knows of only a couple of companies that make their own tools sourced from USA made parts. A good article here on how all major hand tool companies are now owned by offshore conglomerates:
https://www.protoolreviews.com/milwaukee-vs-dewalt/
It's an older article and other acquisitions have been made and manufacturing processes have changed, but it is easy to see the gist by scrolling down the page. It doesn't mention all the companies that were ground up in the process, or companies that were purchased then quietly dissolved.
I see the knife industry following this model. Just a few years ago mentioning "Chinese" caused and immediate 200 post blast that usually ended when a moderator shut down the thread. There were claims of un-American activities, support of Communism, support of child slavery, nefarious plots to undermine the USA economy through the knife world, and all manner of other xenophobic accusations were on block/copy/print to get on the thread as soon as possible to prove you were a real American. Lots of chest pounding.
Look how much is changed... I NEVER would have believed it. Threads like "show us you favorite Chinese knives" and "which is the best Chinese maker" are common. Open, public discussions of favorite Chinese knives used to be kind of acceptable if they could attach an American maker's name to it, but now even that isn't necessary. People post here giddy with excitement over receipt of their new Chinese offering and gush about the quality and others jump in immediately to claim the same, and offer their own stories of how much they like Chinese brands. The about face is still a little weird for me, but here we are. I think the transformation will continue on with American makers that already buy bearings, screws, standoffs, G10, ferrules, FRN, etc, and off shore milling/machining bits going on until someone starts (and they may already!) start buying blade stampings, liner stampings, foreign made metals (already!) etc.
Like DeWalt, Milwaukee, etc., they will proudly brag that they are "made in the USA" but that will mean something completely different than it does to someone of my age when Made in USA meant just that.
Putting the soapbox up...
surveillance on their own people, slave labor (more or less) etc
