There have been plenty of junk tools and junk tool brands from America, but few people remember them, mainly because most of the time the lower quality junk didn't survive to present day. So people automatically assume that every USA-made tool is gonna be better than any Chinese-made tool.
China is capable of producing very high quality tools, but the whole point of making tools in China is usually to cut cost, after all. High quality tools somewhat undermine that goal. In order to produce them at lower costs, corners have to be cut. Plus quality control may be an issue with some contract manufacturers. There's also a lot of counterfeits and knockoffs that come out of China, that reinforce the "junk tool" image. Recently, higher production costs in China have made other places, like India more attractive.
One issue with tools made in China, India, and other nations is that the raw material quality can indeed be a problem. The metal quality may be deficient, have toxic, or even radioactive impurities. Reputable brands tend to be better at quality control, but no-name/random letter "brands" on Ebay, Amazon, Alibaba, etc. should be approached with caution.
