I remember seeing a company named Tea Stick Rods at the FF retailer show a few years ago; they were selling very low cost bamboo rods produced in China. After reviewing the Highland Mills website, it appears that Highland Mills sells 3 lines of rods, with only 1 being completely made in the US. Cryptically, the original and the signature series do not refer to being made in the US, while their third line, the American series makes the distinctive claim to be all-American made. I can only assume from the descriptions that the "original" series is completely planed (or machined?) in the non-US (China?), assembled in the non-US (China?), with non-US (Chinese?) components. The signature appears to be of non-US (Chinese?) blanks, but US components.

These are my observations, and I have not contacted Highland Mills, so take it for what it's worth; I will let someone else chime in with comments on quality of the non-US rods and their value perception....