It is all about what kind of relationship the company has with their contract manufacturer. If you let them cut corners to save money they will. If you don’t have proper systems in place to check their work through samples, QC ,QA etc., then these cut corners will reach your customers. Some companies care some do not. If you tell the CM to make crap they will.

it’s the economy, stupid

(but seriously – if you are spunking big bucks on something, it is nice to support local jobs)

I am glad you raised this as it definitely makes me uncomfortable when it is brought up as it often is on the Stereophile comments.

I’ve been a hifi buff for over four decades and I remember when UK hifi had an awful reputation for build quality and reliability compared to Japanese equipment. The UK stuff was rightly praised for its sound quality over the Japanese stuff but the build quality was nowhere near as good. Things have changed since then and many of the high end UK ranges are particularly well made in the UK such as ATC and B&W with excellent support services. We have to face facts though. Much of what we buy including clothes, furniture, electronics, cameras, etc. are made in the Far East or in poorer nations because we wouldn’t be able to afford it if it was made locally. That’s capitalism for you. We want it cheap because we have the power to make it so. Exploitation is built into this model.

Also, China’s human rights record is terrible but then neither the UK nor the USA nor most western countries have a perfect record. All rich countries are exploiting others. There’s a whole host of fresh vegetables in supermarkets in Europe that import food from places such as Kenya and Thailand. It’s not great for the environment but we in the west want our cheap green beans and asparagus.

There’s a ton of stuff online about this:

https://www.oaklandinstitute.org/massive-land-grabs-africa-us-hedge-funds-and-universities-0

https://www.brot-fuer-die-welt.de/blog/2021-human-rights-day-land-grabbing-in-africa/

I am in the process of rebuilding my 30-year-old (musical fidelity, sonus faber) system. Part of my equation is to avoid made in China, or any other country with poor human rights. It’s a principle.

There is still plenty of fab hi-fi made in the UK, and perhaps other, more enlightened countries. If companies don’t boast where they manufacture, then it’s probably not what you want to hear!

It’s cringey that OP added a race element.

I avoid (when I can) made in China for political reasons. I also would not buy from Iran, Cuba, North Korea, Russia, etc…if there was such an opportunity.

Adding the race element is weird AF from the OP. I doubt anyone would complain that their equipment is made in Japan. I know I’d take Technics gear over many Euro brands.
It’s a quality thing. Countries develop a reputation over time for producing products that consumers will enjoy and trust.

I draw a hard line - all my audio stuff has to be made on planet earth. No Jovian gas moon speakers for me. No way.

Seriously, there is some great gear made in every country. So then why do I have a preference wrt country of origin? Couple of reasons.

• Worker exploitation and human rights. Why should I support a country like China that has an abysmal human rights record? Not historically. But today, right now. Dissidents and their families are disappearing. Uyghurs are being detained in state-sponsored camps, government policies have included forced labor, suppression of Uyghur religious practices, political indoctrination, forced sterilization, forced contraception, and forced abortion.

• Intellectual property theft. There are a lot of ‘derivative’ designs out there that are close copies of gear designed and produced by established companies. These copies trade on the goodwill established over years and years. It’s not ok to buy them to save a buck.

• Product support is very important to me, and I want a local in-country support presence ir I won’t buy the product.

I don’t care where it’s made. The end product and associated services are what matters.

The reason I usually try to buy stuff from first world nations are because the quality is usually here. You ain’t paying a factory worker 20+$/hr to make a shitty headphone.

If it’s a good quality product that’s still made in china for example, and the service is not in india (because good customer support in india doesn’t exist), then I’m fine with it.

I like to spend my money as locally as possible. Locally made products (in state, in country), support local people, and keep taxes local. However, good products can be made anywhere.

I like to know where my money’s going. Am I supporting a Chinese company? Or a British company outsourcing their labor? Or a Japanese company outsourcing their labor to Malaysia? What does Malaysian electronics manufacturing even look like?

I lean toward companies based in the USA, but I don’t force myself to only buy American.

That being said, the biggest issue is easy of warranty returns. Some of the high end brands in Europe can be difficult to deal with as far as trying to return something that didn’t work when you bought it, or had major issues during the warranty period.

Shipping items to Europe and other countries, when the item or replacement is shipped back, often a tariff needs to be paid in order to get it, then the customer has do deal with the paperwork in order to get the tariff refunded. Plus many foreign companies won’t pay or reimburse shipping costs, which is probably customary for companies that don’t have an office or warehouse in the USA.

Not sure the race element here either. As other have said, for me it’s about customer service after purchase and knowing there are parts down the road in case I need repair. This is also why I buy from brands that have been in business for years and years (there are many of them). Sure, some of these companies may have stuff assembled overseas or use parts from other countries BUT they will be there to service it. After being in this hobby going on 40 years I have seen the small, esoteric manufacturers come and go like fashion. Companies I never heard of seem to pop up with rave reviews every few years or so and then “poof”, gone. It just so happens most of those companies that have stood the test of time are from Europe, North America and Japan/Korea…

I care about labor conditions of the workers. I only have control by voting with my dollars when governments won’t enforce basic safety or labor rights