Where TEKTON tools are made
Most companies in this directory answer the origin question with a sentence. TEKTON answers it with a breakdown.
On its about page it states what proportion of its current product line is made in each country, by name, down to single items. Most of that range is not American, and it is TEKTON that tells you so. Then it does the thing almost nobody does: it defines the term it is using, so you know what its own label means before you read it on a product.
| What | Recorded as | In the company's own words |
|---|---|---|
| The company, about itself | Varies by product | When we say that a tool is made in the United States, we mean that all the manufacturing takes place in the United States. About 82% of our current product lineup is made in Taiwan, 12% in the United States, 2% in Canada, 3.5% in Germany, and the remaining .5% consists of 14 items from Sweden, 5 items from Poland, and 1 item from Slovakia. For example, the steel for all our in-house production of wrenches, picks, hooks, and pry bars is U.S.-sourced. |
Why a percentage beats a badge
A badge is a claim about a company. A percentage is a claim about a company's range, and it can be wrong in a way a reader could catch.
Saying that about 82% of the line is made in Taiwan invites a question that a flag in a footer never does, which is: so which ones are the other 12%. TEKTON answers that too, by telling a reader to check the specifications section on each product page rather than assuming the brand carries over.
A company with a minority of its production in the United States, publishing the majority that is not, is more useful to a careful shopper than a company that says nothing and lets the shopper assume.
What the definition is doing
Plenty of companies say made in the USA. Few say what they mean by it, and the phrase has enough legal and everyday slack in it to cover several different situations: parts made abroad and assembled here, a product finished here, a product wholly made here.
TEKTON closes that gap in one sentence, and it closes it in the strict direction, against its own interest. Having defined the term that way, it then tells you most of its range does not meet it.
This is recorded as varying by product
The label on this record is not a criticism. It is what the company's own answer requires: the origin of a TEKTON tool depends on which tool, and TEKTON says so plainly.
A reader who wants an American wrench can get one here. A reader who assumes every TEKTON tool is American would be wrong, and would have had to ignore the company's own about page to get there.