That is true, Jeff. However, in my experience we roll the dice on every inexpensive Chinese thing we purchase from any vendor. I do not say that to mean we should not buy any inexpensive Chinese tools, rather that we should not deceived into thinking that there are reliably good sources of better quality inexpensive Chinese tools and tooling. Why pay more to roll the dice for similar odds of success from another seller? The real truth is that quality control and quality assurance are the first things thrown out the window for making cheap tools at a profit.
I sort of agree with that thought, savarin. There are still countries that make very good products, like say, Switzerland. I cannot think of anything coming here from Switzerland that is poorly made. On the other hand, Swiss stuff is universally quite expensive here, and probably going higher yet, due to ever fewer potential purchasers being willing to pay many times the cost for a visually similar product. The same is true of the diminishing USA made stuff from makers who continue to put quality first. The price gap seems to be widening, and the cheap stuff appears to be mostly winning, except for exotic stuff being paid for by institutions with deep pockets, like governments.
