Kobalt partners with third-party manufacturers to bring its tools to the market. In the past, Kobalt primarily made its hand tools in the United States, but they have slowly shifted production overseas to countries like Taiwan and China. Let’s talk more about these manufacturers and the trend we’ve seen in Kobalt’s manufacturing practices over the years. These manufacturers include JS Products, Chervon, and Great Neck. Kobalt tools are made by third-party manufacturers for Lowe’s. Here are some that show the labeling on the back of the tools. I then began to notice that almost every power tool I checked was made in China.Īfter realizing that just about all their power tools are made in China, I decided to head back to the hand tools section to check some more hand tools like screwdrivers and such.Īfter checking about a dozen or so more tools, I found that 10 out of 12 were made in China, and the other two were made in Vietnam.

Next, I went over to the power tools check, and the first power drill I checked was also made in China. The first tool I checked out was a hammer, which I found was made in China. I actually decided to head into Lowe’s and see where most of the Kobalt tools being sold there were made. Unfortunately, this brand used to be a good tool brand made in the United States but not anymore. Once they begin this process, it almost always leads to the brand making more and more of its products in overseas countries. Kobalt shows us an example of a brand that has made a slow descent into manufacturing its tools abroad. They may have a sprinkling of some made in the United States, but we would say that they all largely come from China now. We couldn’t find anything else made in the USA, and even the screwdrivers that they once said were American-made back in 2014 are no longer produced in the United States to the best of our knowledge. The only Kobalt product that they make in the United States that we could find was: Anytime companies don’t label where they make each product specifically, we remain skeptical.

It may be that they changed their operations now to where they don’t make their tools in the US anymore. We had a hard time finding products that said, “Made in the USA,” even with their hand tools. If you want American made from this brand, we would recommend that you begin your search with its hand tools, but even there, be careful because not all of them were made in the United States. Kobalt makes some of its hand tools in the USA, but we would advise caution because they appear to increasingly favor China and Taiwan-made tools.

Lowes kobalt multi tool