Where Are Craftsman Tools Made? 2024 Overview

An American icon that backs its tools with one of the strongest warranties in the business, you may wonder if Craftsman outsources its work overseas or keeps its jobs in America. We want to support American businesses that back our nation’s economy and keep the jobs here for our nation’s prosperity.

In the rest of this article, we’ll be discussing where craftsman tools are made and other important information about the company.

Most Craftsman tools are made in Taiwan and China, however, in recent years, the company has been bringing more manufacturing back to America. They now offer some hand tools and power tools made in the USA.

You can check out the Craftsman website here to learn more about where their manufacturing facilities are in the United States and what products are made in the USA.

Along with a portion of their hand tools, they now offer some power tools, including drills such as the Craftsman V20 20-volt Max 1/2-in brushless cordless drill and air compressors such as the Craftsman CMEC6150K that are made in the USA with global components.

When looking for Craftsman tools that are made in the USA, look for this sticker below.

I actually decided to head into the Home Depot and Lowes stores by my home and see where the tools being sold there were made. Below, I’ll share photos of the labels on the tools I found there.

The first Craftsman tools I came across were some power tools.

While I know that Craftsman does offer some power tools that are made in the USA with global materials, the far majority being offered were made in China. Here is the labeling on the bottom of the first drill that I checked.

Then I grabbed a Craftsman circular saw, and I was a little disappointed that it was also made in China.

Then I grabbed a third power tool and it was also made in China.

I checked about ten different power tools and all of them were made in China. None of the drills or traditional power tools were made in the USA, other than some larger tools like air compressors and even some lawn mowers.

I then decided to head over to the hand tools section to see where those were made. The first thing I grabbed was a toolset with a variety of tools, and I found it was made in Taiwan.

The second-hand tool I grabbed was also made in Taiwan.

I then grabbed a screwdriver set, and it was also made in Taiwan.

To my disappointment, the fourth tool I checked was made in China.

The fifth tool I checked was made in Denmark.

The sixth hand tool I checked was made in Vietnam.

I continued to check about 20 more hand tools. The far majority were made in Taiwan and China, which really didn’t surprise me at all. Keep in mind that this was just my experience at some major retailers. Craftsman does offer certain hand tools that are made in the USA, like tape measures. Just be sure to look for the label that says “made in the USA with global materials.”

If you’d like to learn more about the Craftsman brand and its rich heritage as an American-made company, keep reading. We advise research when buying this brand, and we’ll show you why.

Craftsman Being Owned by Black & Decker

Stanley Black & Decker first acquired Craftsman from the troubled Sears brand in 2017. They acquired the Connecticut-based toolmaker and all its trademarks for $900 million. Before that, Craftsman fell under the Sears brand in 1927 when they were created as a Sears product lineup. For most of its history, Craftsman tools were made in the USA.

Unfortunately, as Sears began to experience growing financial pains, it had to outsource much of its tool manufacturing to China and Taiwan to save money. It wasn’t Stanley Black & Decker that made this decision to send Craftsman jobs overseas but a drowning and desperate company doing what it could to cut costs. You can learn more about Sears selling Craftsman to Stanley Black & Decker here.

We must, to some degree, applaud Stanley Black & Decker for respecting the Craftsman heritage and restoring it to its former American glory. However, be sure with Stanley Black & Decker that it says, “Made in USA.”

The reason that you must exercise caution with products that fall under the Stanley Black & Decker brand is that only 49 manufacturing plants are located in the United States. To put that into perspective, they have over 100 manufacturing plants globally, which means that less than 50 percent of their facilities sit in the US. Luckily, Craftsman itself has come back to its American roots on a level not seen since 2010.

Building a New Manufacturing Plant in Fort Worth

Hoping to expand its manufacturing footprint in the United States, Craftsman will build a new manufacturing plant at AllianceTexas. This 27,000-acre master-planned industrial and mixed-use residential area is also the location of the Fort Worth Alliance Airport—the world’s first industrial airport. Learn more about this $90 million manufacturing plant here.

The Craftsman manufacturing plant in Fort Worth will open 500 manufacturing jobs to hardworking Americans in the Fort Worth and North Texas region. They began to build this 425,000-square-foot facility in 2019. The current unrest and world events may have accelerated things as disruption from supply chain issues caused up to $4 trillion in lost revenue for the global economy.

The new Craftsman facility will manufacture a broad range of tools that include:

• Ratchets
• Sockets
• Wrenches
• General sets

Its facility will contain some of the most advanced technologies to optimize productivity and sustainability.

Jim Loree, the President, and CEO of Stanley Black & Decker, the parent brand that Craftsman falls under, said that the ultimate goal behind Craftsman bringing back its manufacturing jobs to America is to revitalize its rich heritage as an American-made company.

We might advise that you exercise caution on this with some Black & Decker products, however. With the tools that you buy, make sure that you purchase them as American-made or with a “Made in USA” sticker. While Craftsman is bringing back some jobs to the United States, not all of the brands under Black & Decker are made here.

Popular Related Article: What Tools Are Made in the USA?

Will All Craftsman Tools Be Made in America?

Over 1,500 Craftsman tools were redesigned with American production as a part of its plan. The redesigning of the tools cut costs on the production of them to make it easier to put them back in American manufacturing plants. The cost would look similar to that of importing them from China and Taiwan, thanks to careful planning.

Still, we would advise caution and research this brand before you buy. Even with the new plant going up in Fort Worth, only 40 percent of Craftsman products are made in the US. However, Jim Loree remains committed to the new plan and says that he hopes that the brand will soon manufacture 70 percent of the Craftsman products in the U.S. within the next few years.

Even at 70 percent, you still need to do your research to avoid the 30 percent.

To put this into perspective, some companies sacrifice everything for the “Made in America” label and to support the U.S. economy. That sacrifice includes profit margins. That’s why we support American-made companies because of their patriotic determination to put America first—they don’t take the easy road. If you wanted a book that talks about what happens when factories go elsewhere, check out this book review called American Made by Farah Stockman.

Unfortunately, Stanley Black & Decker, a global corporation, often puts profits ahead of those sentiments. Even the tools that they claim to produce in the United States, with their claim of 40 percent coming from the U.S., a lot of the products they produced were made with components shipped from overseas.

They may have brought Craftsman back to the US because they saw economic advantage in the production from the U.S. rather than purely patriotic motives. They knew that products made in the USA would revitalize its old heritage. We say Stanley Black & Decker here because of how Craftsman falls under that bigger label and its control.

This corporation, along with several others, is infamous for writing “Made in the USA” and using qualifiers in a tiny font below that says, “with global materials.” That is why we have a healthy level of skepticism. We’re not against them, but it’s important to go in with your eyes wide open to make an informed decision. Don’t let the marketing mislead you.

To further elaborate on this point, Stanley Black & Decker says that it has 61,000 employees worldwide. How many does it have in the U.S.? They have hired 19,000 of the 61,000 employees across the United States, with only 31 percent being hired here. That may not reflect Craftsman exactly, but it gives you an example of its parent company.

Where Are Craftsman Tools Made in the United States?

We already spoke about the Craftsman manufacturing plant in Fort Worth, Texas, that will create 500 jobs for Americans. Now let’s take a look at the other manufacturing locations where Craftsman makes its tools in the United States:

• Gallatin, Tennessee
• Sedalia, Missouri
• Batavia, Illinois
• Tupelo, Mississippi
• Willard, Ohio
• Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• Kenilworth, New Jersey
• Binghamton, New York
• East Longmeadow, Massachusetts
• New Britain, Connecticut
• Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
• Carlisle, Pennsylvania
• Camp Hill, Pennsylvania
• Mount Pleasant, Iowa
• Fairfield, Iowa
• Council Bluffs, Iowa
• Cheraw, South Carolina
• Fort Mill, South Carolina

There may be a couple more than what this list shows, but for the sake of brevity, we cut it off at 18 manufacturing plants. In all cases, these are the states where you can find Craftsman manufacturing plants. Some states may have more than one.

In all the cases that we found, we learned that the products were assembled in the U.S., but they used global materials to make them. We only highlight that so that you will know what you buy with Craftsman. Depending on the product category, many companies will do this to keep their business profitable while keeping the costs low for the consumer.

Outside of this, much of the Craftsman brand has its hand tools made in China and Taiwan, with China being the main source through Apex Tool Group.

Here’s a quick Craftsman’s video showing the manufacturing facilities in Mississippi that you can check out below.

Who Makes Craftsman Power Tools

Craftsman power tools are currently made by Stanley Black & Decker. During their ownership under Sears, they wouldn’t make the tools themselves, but they would make them under contract with other companies while being owned by Sears. However, that has changed since the $900 million deal between Sears and Stanley Black & Decker.

Does Sears Own Craftsman?

Stanley Black & Decker holds a limited license on Craftsman products, and Sears retains a 15-year royalty-free license. They will receive a royalty on each sale from the brand under Stanley Black & Decker. After 15 years, Sears will pay them a three percent licensing fee, which means that they no longer hold any control over Craftsman.

During the 15 years, Sears retains the right to manufacture and sell Craftsman tools if they do it with existing supply channels.

How to Buy Craftsman Made in the USA

We would like to give you a powerful tip on how to buy Craftsman tools made in the USA.

Typically, where the product was made depends on the outlet. Craftsman uses many third-party manufacturers, but the outlet will often determine where it was made. Usually, buying a Craftsman screwdriver from Sears will result in a product manufactured in China. Buying the same Craftsman screwdriver from Lowes will mean that they manufactured it in Taiwan.

If you want the Made in USA Craftsman products, buy the tools from Ace Hardware. In most cases, the tools made here came from a manufacturer known as Western Forge USA or other U.S.-based manufacturers. You have exceptions, but this can help your search.

How to Tell if Craftsman Tools Were Made in the USA

You can tell this easily because Craftsman and other brands have begun to take a more deceptive approach when made in China. Instead of putting “Made in China” on the tool itself, they don’t put it on the tool. This misleads many consumers into believing that they have a “Made in USA” Craftsman tool when, in fact, they have a “Made in China” tool.

Most of the “Made in USA” tools will proudly place a label on the tool that says so. It’d be surprising if they tried to hide that label because of the extra sacrifice to make it. If it doesn’t have that label, it will either have been made in China or Taiwan. Whenever they hide the label, exercise caution. You can confirm this information because instead of on the tool, you will find the “Made in China” label on the packaging.

Under U.S. customs laws, all tools entering the United States must have this label either on the product or packaging to show their country of origin.

We must emphasize that when we say made in the USA, we mean assembled there. Most Craftsmen tools use global components in the manufacturing process even when in the US.

Is Craftsman a Good Brand?

Once known as a brand for durability, value, quality, and versatility, Craftsman has lost some of those traits in recent years, according to some reviewers. Many people claim the Craftsman tools of today have a proneness to breaking and being of substandard quality.

Previously, we talked about them having the best warranty in the business, which was a lifetime warranty, but that was before 2012 under Sears, and you didn’t need a receipt. Today, they reduced the warranty to 25 years, and you must show a receipt.

It’s more problematic to fall back on the warranty than in the past, but it still remains one of the finest in the market. You should also understand how this warranty only applies to its hand tools and not to wear tools, such as saw blades. Understand the warranty of each product before you buy it to get the best deal.

Conclusion:

That does it for this article. We hope we fully answered the question, “Are Craftsman tools made in the USA?” If you have any further questions, let us know in the comments below.

If you’re interested in a Craftsman toolbox and whether they have any good options made in the US, head over to our toolboxes guide here and read about them and their competing brands!