There was a time that I worked in manufacturing, and I will use Zenitel as an example. We built intercom systems, for hospital use, for them and placed Made in USA stickers on them. They were assembled in america with chinese parts. It aggervated me because I would spend a couple of days with sandpaper and scotchbright removing scratches from a stainless steel panel. So the company spent $160 bucks plus whatever they paid the person helping me. So I guess thats $300 waisted fixing cheaper parts.
I have also seen American workers intentionally mess up products, simply because they didn't want to be working on a certain project. I would buy American from a reputable company if I can afford it or justify the value of the higher price. I love my Ruger revolver and easily acept the price/value over foriegn products compition