The best way to make sure you're buying a high-quality hand tool is to buy a brand that you've come to know and trust. But brand names aren't the only indicators of superior quality. When faced with unfamiliar brands, look for the phrase, 'Made in U.S.A.' It can also indicate a level of higher quality because American-made tools must conform to higher standards.

American hand tool manufacturers work together in the pursuit of higher quality. They are joined in this effort by the U.S. government and with standards organizations such as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the American National Standards Institute.

Through committees, manufacturers exchange information to develop better standards and increase the quality level of the entire hand tool industry. Together, these groups have developed and published vitally important standards for product quality, safety and consistency.

The standards set a basic minimum level of quality that U.S. tool-makers meet. They follow the standards so they can offer a higher quality product and maintain their reputations. They also want to avoid increased liability for problems that can arise when high quality levels are not maintained.

Oftentimes, distributors and retailers will buy foreign-made tools in order to offer their customers consumer-grade products that cost less. To keep their costs low, these foreign manufacturers may not place a high priority on meeting U.S. industry standards.

American hand tool manufacturers that supply professional-grade tool markets have to meet these high standards or they won't be in business very long. The major motivation to maintain high quality standards is not the altruism of the manufacturers, but rather the potential liability faced should an inferior tool cause injury during normal use.

Even if an injury was a result of the worker misusing the tool, the laws usually place the responsibility on the tool manufacturer to consider possible misuse. Thus, a well-made tool used improperly could result in the manufacturer paying compensation to the injured party.

Because quality standards are so important in the United States, American manufacturers are motivated to participate in updating the standards and extending the coverage of such standards. The result is that when the phrase 'Made in U.S.A.' appears on a tool, it indicates that the tool probably meets a higher standard of quality than tools made outside the United States.

An automobile, with its thousands of components and assemblies, might be manufactured in many different countries. Because parts come in from all over the world, it's hard to say where the car was actually made. In contrast, most hand tools are one-piece products that are manufactured in one specific location.

Still, tool manufacturing encompasses a variety of critical operations such as forging, heat treating, machining and plating. Each of these procedures must be performed with precision to maintain a high level of quality. That's why hand tools are best made by a single manufacturer who is in a better position to control the uniformity and compatibility of the various tool-making processes.

It is important to remember that standards only establish a floor and do not define the very highest quality. To obtain tools that meet more than the minimum standards, the buyer should make a selection based on experience. Brands that have been of superior quality in the past will most likely meet the same high quality standards in the future.

Much of the quality that is built into hand tools is inside the tool and is therefore not obvious to the buyer. Factors such as design, engineering and testing may not be evident at first glance. But all go a long way toward ensuring a high-quality tool.

That's why previous experience is so important. A user won't buy a brand that he's had a bad experience with. Likewise, that same user will be loyal to a brand that he has used repeatedly and knows he can rely on.

Another important factor in maintaining the high quality of tools in the U.S. market is the fact that the United States has the largest number of well-paid tradesmen, as well as the highest-paid tradesmen in the world. These professionals, and their employers, can justifiably buy a wide assortment of the highest quality tools to make the best use of their time.

Unlike other countries, the U.S. has many tradesmen that furnish their own tools and can buy exactly what they want. They take pride in their tools and their reputations as professionals. The expression 'a tradesman is known by his tools' speaks volumes about the relationship between a tradesman and his tools.

I remember an economics teacher telling my class that, 'We cannot live in this country just by taking in one another's washing.' The secret for successful free trade is for our country to produce and sell the things that we do best, yet still purchase goods made overseas.

There are many good reasons why we should buy certain foreign products. Such purchases benefit the foreign manufacturers and raise the standard of living for foreign workers. It also gives those same workers the money necessary to buy American-made products.

It is in our interest that all of mankind has a decent living standard, not just the people fortunate enough to be born in the United States.