So, which is better? Forged in USA and assembled in Mexico? Or forged overseas and assembled in USA?
I disagree. I don't think I'm that old at 50 but when I was a kid it wasn't hard to buy an American made anything.
I believe legally, “Made in USA” indicates that all major parts and materials are processed in the USA, from start to finish, including US made steel, and US forging, and US finishing, and probably US made plastic on the grips, etc.
No company in any industry, having figured out the price the customer is willing to pay, is going to choose doing that instead of increasing their margin.
"Under current Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines, a product may be advertised as “Made in the USA” if “all or virtually all” of the labor and materials in the product are domestic. While this standard is relatively strict, it allows a bit of flexibility in at least two situations."
Consumers have spoken, and complaining isn’t going to change that. Tools have become commodities, and whoever can deliver that commodity at the lowest price will win, or in most cases already won the market.
Truer words were never spoken. You can hate it or you can accept it but reality never changes. The only way this works is the Knipex model which is make the best and charge accordingly for them. I'll pay Knipex prices but most will not. The people on Garage Journal are a tiny subset of the average American tool user.
I think the hammers are mostly still US made, just possibly using foreign made steel, which may be an availability thing, or a contract thing, since Marshalltown just acquired Vaughan recently, and may not have the contracts in place to source the proper steel alloys.Sadly, many of their mainline hammers now say this as well. Disappointing but unsurprising. Not many parts to a hammer, so "made in USA with global materials" really makes you wonder what they mean. I applaud their honesty and being upfront on their website about it, if nothing else, but I'm not interested in paying Vaughan prices for import hammers.
, although I have no explicit knowledge backing this. Sure, but no problems with having someone else do it. /s
And even that didn’t work for Malco when they reopened the DeWitt locking plier plant.
I think the hammers are mostly still US made, just possibly using foreign made steel, which may be an availability thing, or a contract thing, since Marshalltown just acquired Vaughan recently, and may not have the contracts in place to source the proper steel alloys.
It’s also possible Vaughan ignored proper reporting on the sources of some materials,
It’s possible some material that normally isn’t thought of, such as the powder coat finish, or the rubber handles use imported source materials.
I would presume Marshalltown, given what they already manufacture, has the resources to properly test steel, and can tell if imported steel has any issues.
With certain items like the Titanium hammers, I believe those were always made with imported heads.
Malco got flat out greedy so I don't think that's a good comparison. If they would have charged twice as much as Milwaukee or Brennen then would have paid the price but for something I'm going to cover with weld spatter there isn't a chance I'd pay four times as much.
IMO, these companies are likely not rolling in excess profits, so they "do what they gotta do!" to remain in business making products in the US (with American workers), even if that means not "100% made in USA". It's likely still more expensive to make a hammer here, regardless.Could be a lot of things but personally, I'm not willing to pay a premium 'US-made' price for "might be imported steel or handle" hammer. Too many other options at that price point. If I wanted an import hammer I could buy half a dozen of them somewhere else for what Vaughan charges for one of theirs.
By quality is poor, what do you mean? Are they soft? Are the serrations not sharp? Are they loose or tight?
The next step worse after that is not having any companies/brands left either.
The US still makes stuff, but it’s usually niche manufacturing, or high end stuff, or mundane **** people buy every month like trash bags and laundry detergent, and toilet tissue.
I would rather have someone in the USA using foreign materials to make hammers rather than having the hammer entirely made in a 3rd world country. Now, if they just import forgings or castings and they slap two foreign made pieces together that is different.Sadly, many of their mainline hammers now say this as well. Disappointing but unsurprising. Not many parts to a hammer, so "made in USA with global materials" really makes you wonder what they mean. I applaud their honesty and being upfront on their website about it, if nothing else, but I'm not interested in paying Vaughan prices for import hammers.
People can often live quite well for $5 an hour in a 3rd world country. I recall reading something about fifteen years ago that a programmer/developer was paid $12.50 per hour at the time in India. That doesn't seem much compared to the USA, but it was said at the the time that wage was enough money to pay all the bills for the worker's extended family. It was a LOT of money in India at the time.
I know about cars as well. The point was Klein hammering the Made in USA message for years. Hanging their hat on it in the marketing. Then doing this. It used to be if you picked up a set of Klein cutting pliers you could count on it being made in the USA. And there are millions of tradesman in the US that happily paid a premium price for Klein for over 100 years. Myself being one of them since I started buying tools in 1996.
So a company should never tout something that sets them apart on the chance that someday they might change strategy?
It's not a zero-sum-game.Take heart in knowing that if not lining the pockets of American labor you are lining the pockets of American executives
Can you elaborate on where politics has been brought up in this thread?
Unless it was a different thread, it's been removed. I think the person even said something like at the risk of being political.
It's been deleted.
