Several years ago, I was looking into buying a new Kalamazoo band saw. I spoke with a very helpful dealer by telephone and, in the course of our conversation, I mentioned the appeal of an American made product. He told me, much to my surprise, that there are no longer ANY American made metal working machines. If you wanted to buy 'Made in the USA', you pretty much had to buy used. All, including Kalamazoo, are made overseas.
I also became acquainted with a gentleman two or three years ago that is a self-employed machine repair specialist (or some such job description). I needed work done on my made-in-Taiwan Supermax mill, and the earliest appointment he could give me was more than two months later. When he finally made it to my shop, I expressed my curiosity as to why it took so long for him to get to me and why no one else was accessible who knew how to service this equipment. His response was revealing. Back in the day, when all these machines were made in the US, the craftsmen who built them were the guys who went out and repaired them. But today, we are well beyond a working-career generation removed from when those machines were made here. The guys who worked on them are pretty much dead and gone - at least as far as productive availability is concerned. Consequently, there are precious few left who know how to fix these machines anymore. This gentleman is so backed up with work, he even charged me to drive to my shop (about an hour, one way). And I was glad to pay it. I got my money's worth.
To be fair, I have no prospect of verifying either of these assertions, but they at least pass a smell test. Bottom line: If the good equipment is not being made here, it is most certainly being made somewhere. Many European manufacturers seem to still be going strong but have likely been at capacity for a number of years (right/wrong?), so the slack must be being picked up somewhere else. That pretty much leaves Asia. Case in point, almost every piece of heavy equipment in my shop was made in Taiwan. No doubt, it would be desirable to have the option of 'Made in the USA', but apparently those days are long gone. That being the case, I have no complaints with 'Made in Taiwan'. So far.
Regards,
Terry