Assembled in the USA means just that. It has components from different countries (AUS8 steel is made in Japan, the handle may be made in Taiwan, etc.) and it's assembled in the USA. At least they are assembling them here. Many companies have just given up on using USA labor at all. My Twitch XL package said Assembled in USA and that was enough for me. I have a couple of USA Spyderco knives that are awesome, but my Japanese one is great too. I have a Case knife which is a cool little USA EDC blade, but I love my Swiss made Victorinox too.