Can't speak for USA purchases since I haven't bought this sort of stuff there in 15+ years. But in China I've had good luck with Siemens and LG fridges and washers, Ariston and Valenti for cooking, and Braun & Philips for small appliances. Whatever not imported from outside China directly, was produced inside in a JV factory. A landlord once stuck me with a TCL Chinese television and I suffered with that POS for 6 months until I switched apartments (and landlords) and stepped up to the Japanese-branded widescreen. ^

Haier is probably the best of the Chinese appliance bunch, and are rumored to give decent after-sales manufacturer servicing if needed (this is from secondhand reports only). But they certainly are no Liebherr.

The refrigerator in my house died on me two days ago. After reading what you all were saying about appliances manufactured in China, I purchased a Samsung refrigerator. I specifically avoided any brands that might have been made in China.

I'd bet my bottom dollar that at least 50% of your refrigerator's components were made in China. There's a reason that ALL of the major Korean companies are heavily investing in China.... actually, there are multiple reasons; increasingly, the "market is too big to ignore" argument trumps the "cheap labor" argument.

Don't doubt the entire product was made in Suzhou plant.

Established in 1995, Suzhou Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (SSEC) is Samsung's largest overseas production base for white goods (air conditioners, refrigerators, microwaves and washing machines).

Samsung to recall 32,000 refrigerators in China
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90...0/6807603.html

Suzhou Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Number of Shipments (Jul 01, 2007 – Aug 17, 2011):
2,246 shipments to Samsung US - LA port

Commodity:
1400 Pce Refrigerator Rf217 Acbp/Xaa S/C 8276892 A11 To Dr 5 X40 Hq 1400 Pce Refrigerator Rf217 Acbp/Xaa S/C 8276892 A11 To Dr 5 X40 Hq 1400 Pce Refrigerator Rf217 Acbp/Xaa S/C 827...

I bought the 25.8 cu foot French door model from Lowes, the highest rated French doors style on the market. There's probably no way to find out how much, if any, of the components came from China. I hope it was at least assembled in S. Korea. It's being delivered next Monday and I'll look at the paperwork that comes with it. I payed for it with AX which will double the 1 year warranty to 2 years, so if it turns out to be a POS I'll send it back to Lowes.

http://www.samsung.com/us/appliances/refrigerators

This thread has gotten way off topic, but is interesting though.

Susie, odds are, you're getting a Chinese refrigerator, but don't despair. You wouldn't have bought a Korean car 20 years ago (unless you were dirt poor), and you probably hadn't even heard of Samsung... times change.

Off topic is fine; I recently created a new thread about (Jinghu Line) trains, and it would be nice if stuff relevant to trains was posted there. This thread is free to take its own course.