I was kind of shocked to walk into my local Home Depot the other day. Not by microwaves (mostly made in China), air conditioners (mostly made in China), or gas ranges (aggravatingly impossible to tell) but by dishwashers, of all things.
This is a prime example of Section 301 tariffs having an effect. In 2018, a 10% tariff was put in place for dishwashers made in China. In 2019, this was raised to 25%. Uninformed people (or as I like to call them, idiots) scream and whine about how tariffs against China will put Americans out of work and drive prices up. That’s funny, because dishwashers seem to be more affordable now than they ever were.
(Hint: the next time you see someone whining about Section 301 tariffs on social media, take a look at their stock portfolio).
Here’s how well tariffs have worked. At one point, everyone in the US had a GE Appliance; General Electric was one of the most iconic brands in America and around the world. Today, they’re owned by Haier. Yes, the same Haier that’s headquartered in Shandong Province and a good chunk of whose $31 billion annual revenue in USD goes to fund the PLA and the CCP’s surveillance state. And yet even Haier has decided to keep GE’s US operations in Kentucky open.
As much as I wish I could support GE Appliances (which includes Café, Monogram, and Hotpoint in the USA), I can’t recommend them. It’d be like supporting IBM when they were supporting the Third Reich. That’s not on the workers, that’s on the idiot investors who sold out to China in 2016. I hope they’re enjoying their money.
The good news is that there are a lot of other brands to support, including some of the best as chosen by Wirecutter and Consumer Reports.



The Best Dishwashers Not Made in China
1. Bosch Benchmark Series, 800 Series, or 500 Series
Consumer Reports chose the Bosch Benchmark Series as their #1 pick, followed by the 800 Series and 500 Series. All of them have superior cleaning power and a convenient third rack. The higher models have solved something that have driven me nuts for years: the ability to dry plastic.
Here’s confirmation that they’re made in the USA (we all know where the “imported parts” come from, but at least some of the work and quality control are in Americans’ hands).

I generally recommend getting large appliances at Home Depot or your local appliance stores vs. Amazon (which is usually just local appliance stores selling these as third party sellers. But if you’re feeling lucky, you may get a bargain from an appliance store clearing out their inventory on Amazon.
2. Miele G5008 or G7216
Wirecutter named the Miele G5008 as its top pick, with the G7216 as its “upgrade pick”. Both the product pages on AJ Madison and ABT confirm that it’s made in Germany.
Wirecutter raves at its ability to deliver sparkling clean dishes while also being quiet. Not surprisingly, these things are built and engineered to last like tanks. If you purchased a China-made dishwasher prior to tariffs going in place in 2018, chances are your dishwasher has been falling apart like mine has (I had the heating unit fail and the doors completely fall off on mine). That will never happen with this one.
3. LG LDPN454HT
Going back to Consumer Reports, if you’re looking for something a little more affordable, Consumer Reports names this LG as another excellent model, scoring only slightly lower than Bosch, but costing about half.
This one is made in South Korea. You can buy this particular model at Home Depot, or comparable models directly from LG.

4. Samsung DW80B7070US (and similar)

If you’re looking for something really, really quiet, this model from Samsung produces 42dB of noise, about the sound of soft rustling leaves or a quiet conversation in a library. That’s quiet!
Samsung is relatively new to the large appliance space so you won’t find them on as many review sites (the dirty little secret of sites like Wirecutter is that they don’t always review the best, they review the ones that consumers are most familiar with so they can maximize their affiliate revenue). But if you’ve follows this blog and have seen how Samsung has treated everything from laptops to tables to smartphones to ear pods, you’ll know they’re serious about divesting from China (unlike a certain “fruit” company).
They’re made in Thailand (although be careful not to buy the low end of their line, which is made in China).
You can get these at Home Depot or directly from Samsung.
5. Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Maytag
I’m going to lump all of these brands into one, because they’re all owned by Whirlpool Corporation, so while their marketing may make it seem like they’re all different, they’re all made in the same place and sometimes off the very same production line.
That’s not a knock on them. As long as they continue to employ American workers and use American quality control they can call themselves whatever they like.
Here are some of the top picks from each brand.
Whirlpool WDTA50SAKZ – Made in Findlay, Ohio and highly rated by Consumer Reports and Wirecutter. Get it from ABT, Home Depot or directly from the manufacturer.
KitchenAid KDPM604KPS – Made in Findlay, Ohio and highly rated by Consumer Reports. Get it at ABT, Home Depot, or directly from the manufacturer.
Maytag MDB8959SKZ – Made in Findlay, Ohio and highly rated by Wirecutter. Get it from Home Depot or directly from the manufacturer.
6. Frigidaire GDSH4715AF
I had to do a triple take when I saw this dishwasher in Home Depot (which after rebates was one of the cheapest models). It’s a super highly rated from Fridigaire. Like GE Appliances, Frigidaire was an iconic American brand, founded in 1916. Like GE Appliances, the once-great brand was sold to a foreign company. Unlike GE Appliances, that company was Electrolux of Sweden and NOT Haier of China.
Today, Electrolux continues to be a publicly traded company, with its majority owners being the Wallenberg family.
I love the fact that this was made in Italy, is more highly rated, and is cheaper than models made in the US. So much for the failures of tariffs.

Conclusion
The next time you hear someone whining (or Yellen) about how Section 301 tariffs hurt Americans, tell them that the world’s best dishwashers are being made in Germany, Korea, Thailand, and the United States of America and are lower priced than when they were all made in China. Then tell them politely to get their heads out of their butts and their portfolios out of the CCP.
While it’s nice to see so many good dishwashers made outside of China, remember that China has its eye on every industry. Already you can see low-end dishwashers made in China. This is how they eventually monopolized the supply chains for every other product, and they’ll be trying with this one, one screw at a time, tariff or no tariff. The only way to stop it is to avoid made in China. I know you will, but will our fellow citizens do the same?
Do you know of any other great dishwashers worthy of mention here? Let us know in the comments.
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