UMD_Jesse

iTrader: (6)

Buy american when you can...and when you cant buy the cheapest chinese crap you can find. Now what craftsman will expect is that you pay top dollar for chinese crap because it has a craftsman label on...instead of going to harbor freight where you can buy the exact same chinese crap without the craftsman label on it.
As for keeping it usa...Import tariffs!!! its what the chinese do. And for craftsman building overseas to save money???? Lets close our factory to save cash...but now you layoff a bunch of people who no longer have money to buy your tools, so you loose business, so you lay off more workers...who have less money still...who buy less stuff...so you layoff more workers.....downward spiral....until the chinese have so much money and we so little, that it becomes cheaper again to make it here....this is long after we're all dead of course....or like I said you put an import tariff in place.

technical

I don't disagree necessarily, but it won't work. Firstly that will just raise the prices on everything. Secondly GWB tried that early in his first term with steel imports from China and Russia... where there is no EPA or OSHA. It was beginning to revitalize the steel industry here. Then the WTO got their knickers in a twist and threatened a trade war with us when we were effectively already feeling the effects of a trade war. Frankly that was one of the few things GWB did that I applauded. I just wish he stood up to those asshats and maybe we would be on an entirely different track right now. It's not like we avoided an economic meltdown anyway so maybe we would have brought back more manufacturing in response to a trade war. This trade deficit BS needs to stop. We import everything and export nothing. We need a balance where Americans can: go to work, build ****, make a decent wage and still be able to afford the stuff we make. I don't see that happening when the American dream now consists of everyone being a CEO.

UMD_Jesse

iTrader: (6)

Firstly that will just raise the prices on everything." -Yes....but thats kind of the point...who cares if it raises prices, IF it raises jobs, salaries, economy, etc....Yes making things in China makes them cheaper and more affordable, but who cares if to get that cheaper good your job got exported. See what I mean? You can have a $5 China wrench and no job, or a $20 made in USA wrench made here where you get paid 50k a year working on the line that makes it.

"Then the WTO got their knickers in a twist and threatened a trade war with us when we were effectively already feeling the effects of a trade war"
-F- the WTO. The US is responsible for 15% of their funding anyway...let see how much they whine when that gets cut. We've been in a trade war for years and we're loosing.

"This trade deficit BS needs to stop"
-right on!

technical

Sadly it's a chicken and egg problem. We can't afford to raise prices until we create more jobs and raise salaries. We can't start bringing manufacturing back to the US and create those jobs until we start making it less advantageous for imported products. Frankly it'll never happen unless we're forced to do it because these jackass politicians (R's & D's) won't bother to fix the symptoms let alone the fundamental problems. They're too busy worrying about carbon footprints, whether or not evolution is real and making sure the sauce on pizza is a vegetable.

That's the balance to which I referred.

UMD_Jesse

iTrader: (6)

Amen!

DarkFox118

iTrader: (7)

has anyone considered perhaps making it cheaper for companies to operate in the us?

maybe reduce corporate tax rates, penalties, and epa garbage?

the labor alone isn't the reason companies are moving to china.

Innovation is always cheaper than labor. Hand made tools by children in sweatshops will still be under quality of tools made by machines in the us. There's a reason beyond labor that companies aren't building these factories here in the us and using this innovation to do it. Operating costs.. your overhead is up because of government regulations.

disappointing to see craftsman jump ship on us like this. I thought they were better than this.

UMD_Jesse

iTrader: (6)

Id be in favor of ZERO coorporate tax! We dont want to tax business...but we ought to tax the money that the owners of those business' try to take home as income.
Also, Sears may not really have had a choice...if they try to manufacture here, but are forced to compete with another company that the US govt allows to make overseas at 1/10th the labor costs ad re-import to the US for free...what else can they do but play ball? That being said...they are no longer made in USA and as such are on my Sh-t list

DarkFox118

iTrader: (7)

yea.. it's sad really..

I would say they could survive as a niche market, but not at all not he scale the operate now.

average joe nobody just wants a cheap wrench to work on his 97 town & country so his wife can take the kids to soccer or whatever. So cheap always wins out over quality.

Ya know in my last job, we had a long talk in a manager's office about quality vs quantity.

Since i had started the job I had focused on the quality of my work, as such my volume suffered, but out of that volume the success rate was much higher.

believe it or not.. I was being given a talking to for focusing on quality. I was told to IGNORE quality and focus on quantity.

it made me lose faith in that company, and pride in my work.

I don't work there anymore.. by mutual agreement pretty much. It's a shame but most major companies look at life through this prism these days. quantity, get the product out and sell it for as much of a price hike over costs as possible.

Schnell

My dad was very badly injured a few years back due to his own stupidity and horrible cheap chinese made craftsman mower he owned. The stupid mower wheels were falling off, carb plate completely broke, exhausts bolts broke of in mower and transmission seezed up. Probably 5 other things went wrong and it was barely over 2 years old.
I have not purchased any craftsman/ sears product since. Craftsman cheaped out years ago. Cheap chinese steel is everywhere. Next is radiated metal from Japan.

technical

Man, don't get me started on Craftsman's cheap *** lawn and garden tools. I had a mower, trimmer and blower (3rd blower) all break on me within a short amount of time. The asshat in the store had given me grief the last time I needed a new blower which was under ******* warranty. I got so pissed off I smashed them all to pieces, loaded them in the truck, and dropped them off at Sears front door. The satisfaction of doing that drastically outweighed anything they possibly could have offered me including new free equipment.

01 ss vert

iTrader: (1)

I just wrote into the company....I used to sell Craftsman too - saddens me to hear this.

G-Body

iTrader: (4)

Somehow I didn`t hear about craftsman selling out and going chinese until the last week or so. I`m really disappointed. I had ordered a microtorque wrench 2 years ago when they were on a black friday sale and ended up really kicking myself for not ordering the other 2 sizes so I had a complete set. Last year I saw they were on sale for black friday again so I picked up the other 2 sizes. Right away when I got them I noticed that instead of coming in a nice case like the previous years one these came in a crappy tray with no lid. Didn`t think much of it till I used them the first time. When I used them I noticed that the new style lock does not work for crap and tends to go from the unlocked position and slip into locked as you try to adjust the wrench. After reading this thread and a couple on garage journal I checked the torque wrenches this morning.........my older one is USA made and when I flipped the newer ones over they are POS china made.

This will be the last time I ever buy a craftsman torque wrench.

coolmanvette75

iTrader: (2)

Got a 154 piece craftsman tool set for christmas. Lust checked the box and it still says made in the usa. Guess I got some of the last "good" craftsman tools...

LaVy

iTrader: (5)

I had a Snap on Rep. And a Snap On Franchise holder tell me the same explanation to this. They said, Snap On's reasoning for this is because they consider themselves a "Global Company" and that the "Made In USA" Makes there Ratchets less Desirable overseas. Maybe its BS I don't know but they gave me the same story, and I've yet to use a better Ratchet.

On the Subject, for the Money Craftsman tools are a rip off. There Quality, fit, and finish is a joke. I only buy Snap on for the tools I use everyday, and Matco for the specaility tools I don't use very often with a few exceptions(Matco Pry-bars and Digital Tire Inflator are WAY better than the Snap on In my Opinion.) Buyer Beware, Matco tools are made by many different suppliers so do your research on them before buying them. Example: You can buy the Lisle tools at O'riellys for a fraction of the price as the Same Matco tool(Built by Lisle) with the Matco Name on it.

Intimidator02SS

I noticed a downslide in the quality of Craftsman tools over the last 5 years. I used to save broken tools and go every couple of months to Sears to swap out. The tools would usually include a couple of screwdrivers, a couple of sockets and definitely several ratchets, especially of 3/8 and 1/4 inch size. I use to walk around grabbing replacement tools and then swapout at the register without problem. Now, especially when it comes to ratchets, I have to swap for rebuilt stuff that generally doesn't work right the second it hits my hand. One time I got a ratchet that had someone's initials engraved in the head. The sockets break very easily now. Wrenches don't fit the bolts as good as they once did. I use Craftsman and Snap-on hand tools, and have given up on replacing my Craftsman. I just buy from Snap-on every week when my Craftsman junk breaks. Not sure about origin of Snap-on tools, but the quality is there.
I think Americans in general (if informed about how it ultimately effects them) would choose the US built stuff even if priced higher, but the issue seems to be that everything seems to be foreign built now - there is not much choice. Very sad situation.
Americans also are too proud. I know several that lost their job due to economy problems with the last few years. One guy made 45k/year and was getting unemployment. He couldn't find a job that paid that, so he just collected unemployment money and sat on his ***. I knew of a position at a local store and told him about it. He told me it didn't pay enough ($9/hour). It's the attitude that we, as Americans, generally have "I'm better than the guy taking your fast food order" or "I'm worth more than that". But in a country where everyone wants to make the most money and pay the least for goods I don't see us getting out of this predicament anytime soon.

camar0corey

iTrader: (22)

Its funny that tariffs came up in this thread. Hilariously enough back in the late 1800's early 1900's we still had a tariff. Hmm country was not in debt.

Bunch of retards in unions cried for the tariff to go away, for what reason who the hell knows, and wanted income tax.

Thanks early 1900's retards! Way to open the door to destroy the economy in less than 100 years....

adrynalinjunkie

iTrader: (4)

YOU CAN STILL DO SOMETHING! Buy Channel Lock pleirs they have needle nose and side dyces etc.. Its not to late. for them. yet...

They even sell them at sears and home depot, I love their logo "Fiercely made in the USA!"

Devillbiss Finishline spray guns are the best around for painting cars and are USA made. Be careful though the entry level Devillbiss Starting line guns are Chinese garbage.

Sharpe and Dynabride. are USA

Buy starrett and let the foreigners buy the damn mititoyo precision measuring tools god know they are too patriotic to buy starrett over there!!!

Gear Wrench stuff rocks and is USA made.

Look around patriot!

How many wimps today would have had the ***** to throw the foreigners tea in the harbor and start shooting them when they tried to come over here. Lol
God bless General Washington's sharp shooters!

technical

To which 'retards in unions' are you referring?

Tariffs are meant to protect domestic production. Unions==Protectionism. That kind of tactic/plan is *exactly* what unions want. When Bush lifted those steel tariffs he really pissed off the steel union.

BTW, towards the end of the 19th century we were the Chinese to the British economy. We were undercutting them terribly.

LS1121

iTrader: (17)

So then I'm finished with Craftsman!

fastazzls1

amen to all who like to buy american made tools and cars i am a porsche tech and have some german hazzette tools there equilvalant to snap on they suck and MAC TOOLS is an awesome tool company they stopped with the bullshit on there wrenches impacts ratchets prybars etc most of there new stuff is made in THE USA I BUY FROM THEM and thats it sure some of there stuff is chinese but its cheaper and breaks way more often i have mac ratchet that my dad used whenhe was a kid just had to replace the selector lever and as for crafsman i have there sockets great ratchets suck so do screwdrivers but there professional series wrenches are great