Snap-on is one of the most recognizable names in the professional hand tools segment. Primarily known for its wide range of sockets, the company has, over time, expanded its product portfolio to include wrenches, power tools, and storage solutions. Snap-on is known for its premium pricing, super expensive tool boxes with many of its tools priced well over $200. The company’s socket portfolio spans 1,500 varieties, while its wider portfolio has over 85,000 individual products.

Snap-on sells its products in over 130 countries, and most of its tools are made in-house across manufacturing facilities spread worldwide, including 15 in the U.S. alone and 21 overseas manufacturing plants. As far as Snap-on’s socket lineup is concerned, a little digging reveals that a good percentage of its sockets are manufactured at the company’s hand-tool plant located in Milwaukee. Specialty sockets are also manufactured at another hand tools facility located in Elkmont, Alabama. The rest of Snap-on’s facilities across the United States focus on other products, including wrenches, ratchets, impact tools, tire machines, and pliers.

Given that Snap-on has manufacturing facilities outside of the U.S., it is not entirely surprising to see some of its sockets sporting a different “Made in” label. However, these are primarily sold in the same overseas markets. Some sockets available in the Snap-On store are made in Taiwan, a location where the company does not operate a manufacturing facility.

While it’s true that Snap-on sockets are manufactured at select hand tools focused manufacturing plants in the U.S., you may have wondered why some sockets from the company sport a “Made in Taiwan” label; especially given that Snap-on doesn’t even mention Taiwan in the list of countries it has production plants. We noticed that Snap-on sockets originating from Taiwan largely belonged to the more affordable “Blue Point” sub-brand.

Given that Taiwan is not listed as a manufacturing location anywhere on Snap-on’s website, chances are these Blue-Point tools are manufactured by a third-party manufacturer under license from Snap-on, a strategy that the company has been following for several years now.

If you are particular about knowing the origins of a Snap-on product you intend to purchase, the easiest way is to go to Snap-on’s US website and search for the specific product. Once on the product page, look for the “Country of Origin” label located within the product specifications tab. This is where the company clearly mentions which part of the globe it came from.