Aside from the push to buy American (or buy Canadian), there is a higher risk of liability when using foreign manufactured materials. I see this in the products liability insurance questions that insurers ask when underwriting wholesalers and distributors. They want to know how much and from which countries your supplies and materials come from.
In the event that there is a liability claim, and the cause is determined to be faulty manufacture as opposed to faulty installation, it is almost impossible to hold a foreign manufacturer liable in North America. Foreign manufacturers can pretty much hide behind their country's border and can't be forced to answer to a domestic court-ordered payment for third party bodily injury or property damage.
Products between Canada and the USA are okay because of NAFTA. It is common practice for an American lawyer to sue a Canadian manufacturer of windows and have that Canadian manufacturer's insurer respond to a liability suit filed in a U.S. court. And vice-versa.
Not so if the manufacturer is located in China or Columbia. If, for example, a child falls out of a window because the safety catch was faulty, and the courts can't go after the Columbian window manufacturer, they will instead go after the American wholesale distributor (Lowes for example). If the window was bought directly by an American contractor who then installed it, then the contractor can be left holding the bag as they are the only ones that the American courts can touch.
If a contractor has a client that wants a foreign-made product installed and there was no American/Canadian distributor or supplier acting as intermediary (such as Home Depot, New York Window Supply Company, etc.), it would be advisable to consider proceeding as follows:
1. Have the client order the product themselves as opposed to the contractor ordering it and importing it on their behalf.
2. Have an indemnity agreement added to your installation contract that holds-harmless for any liability with respect to the product's manufacture.
Even though it is obvious that the installer should not be responsible for a product that he did not manufacture, lawyers will go after any company that they can pin liability on. If they can't get the manufacturer, then they will try to go after anyone else involved; and the courts condone this as they find it preferable that someone pay as opposed to no one being held responsible. In this type of case, the lawyers will argue that the American installer chose to use a foreign-manufactured product so are therefore equally liable.
