Leatherman made in USA?

Z

ZeroTurnDude

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Jun 8, 2014
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Are Leathermans still made is USA I keep hearing that they got sued cuz most of there parts are made overseas.

ZTD
 
They are designed and assembled in the US, lots of the parts are made in the US. They didn't get sued as such, just a state law got changed that said that to be labeled "made in the US" the parts all had to be 100% made in the US, and I seem to recall that there was some debate over origins of materials as well, which they may have gone to court over. Not 100% and I don't know of too many direct statements on the matter, all I have is hearsay. And I could have it all wrong. As I recall the parts in question were cast plier heads that were manufactured in Mexico.
Lots of that stuff happened five or more years ago, if not farther back. "Made in USA" is probably one of the most misleading, misrepresented, and misunderstood subjects. country of origin is too complex for me to worry about. At the end of the day, I only care that the person making my equipment gets treated fairly for it. I can't always do that, but its a thing I keep in mind.
 
gadgetgeek said:
They are designed and assembled in the US, lots of the parts are made in the US. They didn't get sued as such, just a state law got changed that said that to be labeled "made in the US" the parts all had to be 100% made in the US, and I seem to recall that there was some debate over origins of materials as well, which they may have gone to court over. Not 100% and I don't know of too many direct statements on the matter, all I have is hearsay. And I could have it all wrong. As I recall the parts in question were cast plier heads that were manufactured in Mexico.
Lots of that stuff happened five or more years ago, if not farther back. "Made in USA" is probably one of the most misleading, misrepresented, and misunderstood subjects. country of origin is too complex for me to worry about. At the end of the day, I only care that the person making my equipment gets treated fairly for it. I can't always do that, but its a thing I keep in mind.
Click to expand...

Good response. To refine a bit; states are realistic about "Made in USA" laws. It is all but impossible to make things purely USA anymore. There are some parts, I believe, that are used in US products because there are no domestic providers. Recognizing this, states have domestic content laws, allowing for a certain percentage of a product to contain some offshore elements and still be labeled "Made in USA." These vary from state to state, but Leatherman tools were okay in most. California, however, had stricter standards, and won a suit against the company. Leatherman then changed its stamp from "USA" to "Tool," therefore legal everywhere but with no changes to their actual products.
I would say that Leathermen are more or less as American made as any other manufactured item these days.
 
Well that's not as bad as I was thinking I still think they should be able to put USA on there tools


Thanks all


ZTD
 
Thanks for adding that in, I figured I had part of the story right, or at least right enough.
 
I'm told that the plier heads are cast in Mexico and the files are cut in either Mexico or Switzerland. All other parts are US-sourced and the assembly is in Oregon.
 
Yalius said:
I'm told that the plier heads are cast in Mexico and the files are cut in either Mexico or Switzerland. All other parts are US-sourced and the assembly is in Oregon.
Click to expand...

As I understand it, Leatherman originally had the plier heads cast by a US company, but after a few years the company relocated to Mexico. Because of their high quality and long working relationship, Leatherman stayed with them. About the rest, I don't know much.
 
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