Schubert, you also live about 30 minutes from Audio Research. No plastic binding posts over there, and I've delivered and picked up my amps for mod at their loading dock. (Been down that other road you mentioned--not such a bargain, IMO).
Why I prefer gear that is made domestically
I find you have a better chance of getting parts and service if you buy a domestic product. Sure some domestic companies go out of business but nothing is full proof. If I need a part for my VPI turntable or ARC electronics I can usually get them within a week. When I had Dynaudio speakers I blew out a driver and had to wait 3 months to get one from Denmark. Since I didn't have another speaker at the time it made it inconvenient for me. No knock on Dynaudio. I really like their speakers. But if I had domestically made speaker I most likely could of got a part within a couple of weeks.