February 11, 2019

What does it actually mean to have a manufactured item be designated as "Made in USA?"

What does it actually mean to have a manufactured item be designated as "Made in USA?"

We love making audio gear! We’ve put a lot of effort into re-establishing a USA design and assembly facility here in Franklin, Tennessee. We think it’s important to our country, and it’s important to my family and the people who work here too. We’re very proud of what we’re doing here, but the world is not as simple as it used to be. We’ve learned that saying “Made in the USA” has some rules and conditions to its use. I’d like to take a moment to talk about this in order to be completely honest and transparent with you, our friends and customers.

"Made in USA" is a labeling term protected by the Federal Trade Commission, or FTC. In order for an item to be called such, the item must be made within the United States' borders from "all or virtually all" American parts. Meaning with components and material that were also made in the USA. You must be thinking to yourself "so what is actually "Made in the USA" these days?". Pretty much just corn and this:

So what does this mean for Emotiva?

The “Made in the USA” mark has come to have a very special meaning and one that requires looking deeply into the supply chain. Consequently, even though many of our X-Series products have printed circuit boards assemblies made at various OEM’s in the US and even though some of our metal assemblies are made locally, the components or materials used in these parts and assemblies cannot reliably trace their manufacturing origins back to the United States.

The reality is electronic components come from Singapore, Japan, Europe, Malaysia, China, etc. Metals come from Korea, Japan, US and China; very little of this raw material stock is actually “Made in the USA” for the type of items we assemble. That is reality of the world we live in today. It’s a global economy, and a global supply chain, so to speak.

In light of this reality, we will be focusing on a new message as we embark on the New Year. Going forward, Emotiva we will be using language that clearly and accurately describes the work we are doing here in Franklin, TN. You will soon see “Assembled in the USA with Globally Sourced Components” on all products designed and assembled in Franklin, Tennessee.

The X-Series amplifiers, as well as XMC-1 and RMC-1 will still be designed and assembled in Franklin, TN by our team. Wherever possible, we source parts and assemblies in the US; the only difference is now we will focus on clearly noting the “global” aspect of our supply chain as we continue to assemble the gear at our facility just outside of Nashville.

We will still have our some of our lower cost products assembled in Asia and those products are, and will continue to be, clearly marked as to their county of origin.

Thank you for your ongoing support and understanding.