I just looked into the Fluke "made-in" recently AKA, country of origin [ that's were most of the work is done despite the origin of the parts] because of a thread I started that someone questioned the origin of the Fluke 179.
From this list 50% of their total wares originate in the USA. I vaguely remember their top bench meter, the 8846 being Chinese, as mentioned in this list, but recent photos from distributors have a made in USA stamp on it. From the list ~20% are from China [ not Taiwan].
http://www.lwfrench.com/resources/fluke-country-of-origin-list/A simple way to check individual devices is to use a large distributor, like Grainger, and check the country of origin.
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/AMPROBE-Compact-Digital-Multimeter-1WKN1?Pid=searchTek has a serial number sequence:
http://www.tek.com/export_codesFWIW there is a trend to move manufacturing away from China because at their current state of development they are not as competitive, added to it rising fuel costs. For the USA market, the movement is to Mexico and back to the USA, principally the south, and for international sites like India and Vietnam.
Most large companies will manufacture products in multiple countries. Companies like Tek, Fluke or Agilent will produce their expensive items containing many trade secrets in the US, but produce their lower end products which don't contain much proprietary information and which require less advanced manufacturing techniques (less communication needed between design and manufacturing) in cheaper countries.
could you possible give some examples from fluke,Agilent or tek products that manufacture in usa?