Many of you know that I gave a lecture at the 2024 BLADE Show in Atlanta titled, “What it Means to be Made in America.” The lecture was quite well received. Here is a follow up “Letter to the Editor” that I wrote to Blade a short time ago. Kudos and a Hell Yeah! to Blade for stepping up and publishing it. For those of you who weren’t there and perhaps don’t get the magazine, I’m posting a scanned version here.
I’ve gotten some great feedback. We all need to speak out and protect our industry, our craft, and our passion. If you agree send an e-mail to Blade Magazine – steve@blademag.com
Dear fellow knife enthusiast,
For those of you who attended my lecture at the 2024 Blade Show, “What it Means to be Made In America,” you already know what I'm about to discuss. For those of you who do not know, you are the reason for this letter.
Unless you have been living with your head in the sand or are in a state of denial, you are aware of the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party efforts to undermine and destroy American industries and all of our manufacturing capabilities. This has been a well-known long-term plan of the CCP for decades and is now greatly accelerated under the leadership of Chinese president, Xi Jinping, who is a publicly admitted, avowed enemy of the United States. (The Chinese government and the CCP are essentially one and the same).
The main thrust of this effort is facilitated by creating Chinese manufacturing companies whose sole purpose is to flood the US market with targeted products that are essentially designed to put US companies out of business. These products are produced by Chinese workers under deplorable conditions, often using forced child labor for little to no wages.
Unfortunately, by copying and adopting American manufacturing processes, engineering and designs, in many cases, flat-out copies, the quality of these products is actually very good and they are able to charge prices that can undercut and directly challenge US-made products. Being an industry insider and having been courted by dozens of Chinese “knife” companies over the years, I know what Chinese-made knives cost to make.
Think about that the next time you are paying $500 for a knife that costs $3.72 to make. Sometimes the knives are not even sold at a unit price, but by the pound. That's right, 100 pounds of knives for $150. You can do the math.
These Chinese efforts are not driven by a “for-profit” business model because they are subsidized by the CCP with unlimited funding which supports thousands of Chinese-based companies across the spectrum of all product manufacturing.
In an effort to break the industrial manufacturing capability of the United States, this effort has now gained a solid foothold against the US production knife industry.
To give credence to this information, you need only ask this question. How can a knife company appear on the scene and immediately have unlimited funds available for hundreds of thousands of dollars in advertising and branding and also cover the costs of building a factory along with the costs of producing their products?
I can tell you for a fact that those companies did not start with one man in his garage like most US industries and businesses have historically done.
At a recent show, my son made this simple yet profound observation. After browsing the show and looking over the products from various Chinese companies, he said to me, “Dad, those knives are pretty to look at, but they have no soul. They might as well be making doorknobs.” And he was right. In fact, some of those factories were making doorknobs before they were ordered to switch over to the manufacture of knives and cutlery.
The bottom line and the call to action, then is this – do not support any company whose real agenda is the take-down and take-over of another American industry.
As the consumers that drive the ability of these companies to gain such a foothold in our industry, we must take a stand. We must fight back and fight back hard by buying knives and cutlery produced 100% in the United States.
Now, you may think this is just a self-serving message as my company is, was and always will be 100% made in the USA, but I do not care if you ever choose to buy one of our knives. Just buy one from an American knife manufacturing company whose knives are actually made in America start to finish. They are out there. There are plenty to choose from and they are the best knives in the world made by American craftsmen and American workers.
Please do not ever be taken in by the “designed in America, built overseas” or “assembled in America” statements either. By these statements alone, you can plainly see how ignorant those Chinese entities believe the American consumer to be.
I must also state that I am dismayed by the number of custom knife makers lining up to have their knife designs made by these same Chinese knife companies. In my position as a custom knife maker, I have had offers that knife makers can only dream of, but I have stood my ground. I guess “getting your name up in lights” sometimes trumps moral convictions. Remember, once you’ve sold your soul, there are no refunds, exchanges or buy-backs.
My statements herein are not conspiratorial by any stretch and they are indeed being played out and realized across the entire US manufacturing base day in and day out. In fact, my views are also shared by the majority of American knife companies, manufacturers and the custom knife making community as well, evidenced by the reaction and thanks I received after giving my lecture at the recent Blade Show.
Some of these comments include, “We're so thankful for you taking a public stand on this issue.” “Finally, someone has said something.” “We are with you, but don’t want blow back for going public with our views.” And to that last statement I just say, what blow back? This isn't Bud Light.
I'm proud to be part of our wonderful community, and I'm proud to be an American.
I will always support all American-made efforts and I will do what I can to protect those efforts, including educating the public, no matter what the cost.
The best knives in the world are made by American workers being paid American wages right here in the United States of America. Find one of those knife companies to support.
Take a stand. Buy American – Protect our industry.
Sincerely,
Ernest Emerson
President Emerson Knives, Inc.
