[JRTJH]

Essentially, Carlisle Tire Company did what many other manufacturing companies did. After Nixon opened trade relations with China, a number of American manufacturing companies took advantage of the cheap labor (manpower costs) and moved their manufacturing operations overseas. They did that to "offset labor costs" which were climbing in the US and other manufacturing sites. The "double edged sword" is whether they "insisted on quality" or whether they allowed the Chinese to make the goods and sell them as alternatives to "quality American products"...

Some companies did a good job and maintained quality in their products, some, not so much.....

If you look at RCA, Zenith, Admiral, all of their TV's used to be made in the US. Heck, even if you look at Sony and Pioneer, all of their "quality Japanese products are now stamped as "Hencho en Chine" (made in China).

Realistically, that's also why RAM trucks are now assembled in Mexico. Cheap Labor.

The difference in how Trailer King tires and Carlisle tires are manufactured is in who owns, manages the plant and whether there's oversight in daily operations. You get out of workers exactly how you manage the workforce and ingredients. If you have no supervision, you get things like lead paint (cheaper stuff) and inferior products. If you supervise the workers and manage the quality of their work, the products "should" mirror those manufactured in the US.

ADDED: Carlisle built their plant in China and run the daily operation of that plant to their standards. Trailer King outsources their products to a tire plant and buys them by the boatload expecting that tire plant to produce products to the stipulations of a contract. There is little supervision by Trailer King of the manufacturing process at the plant that produces their products. HUGE difference between the two competitors.