Why Aren't Any Stainless Steel Water Bottles USA Made?

From Fair Trade to B Corp, there are a ton of different groups, nonprofits, organizations, and social movements aiming to push global commerce in more sustainable, ethical directions. One of those movements is the Made in America movement.

Made in America is a combination of nationalism and ethics. The goal is twofold; to promote on-shore manufacturing and retaining jobs here in America, and to reduce global trans-oceanic shipping, with the massive environmental damage, emissions, and costs associated with it. While there are certain brands that abuse the label, most do not, and the goals are the same either way.

It's reasonable, as a consumer, to want to buy domestic products rather than products imported from overseas whenever it's reasonable to do so. While you can't avoid it in your daily life – many items of technology, as well as foods and other products, are all imported – you can at least focus on purchases like clothing and reusable containers, right?

Well, this is where you might run into a few stumbling blocks. For example, the stainless steel water bottle. It's a common item to want – reusable water bottles are an excellent way to help reduce the amount of plastics in the environment, and don't leach plastic particles or chemicals into the water you drink – and you can find them on store shelves everywhere.

So why is it, then, that no matter how hard you look, you can't find a stainless steel water bottle made in America?

Where is Stainless Steel Made?

Stainless steel was originally invented in 1915, though a variety of similar steels using chromium alloys existed for decades prior. The 1915 patent for stainless steel quickly became a popular material for everything from cutlery to cars, and tens of thousands of tons of the material were made in the United States every year.

The modern manufacturing process for stainless steel is pretty interesting. Existing scrap stainless, as well as iron and various ferrous alloys, are all melted together in an electric arc furnace. This molten metal is then poured into a giant ladle and is put through the AOD, or Argon Oxygen Decarburization, process. This removes carbon from the steel by turning it into carbon monoxide. Additional chemical adjustments can be made, and then the metal is solidified into slabs or blooms for production purposes.

Globally, over 50 million tons of stainless steel are produced every year. This includes both new stainless steel and stainless steel made by recycling existing stainless scraps. To put things into perspective, the Americas – that is both North and South American production – accounts for some 2.3 million tons of stainless steel each year. The whole of the European Union produces around 7.1 million tons. All of Asia, excluding China, produces another 7.8 million tons. The rest of the world combined produces 8.3 million tons.

China? They produced 32 million tons of stainless steel per year, over half of the global production of the metal. (Please note that these numbers come from 2021; more recent numbers are likely a bit higher, but the proportions remain the same.)

There are a few quirks about this, too. Canada and Mexico don't actually produce any stainless steel, nor does Russia. It's simply easier to import it from China than to set up production facilities domestically. Even in the US, where we do make some amount of stainless steel, we still import nearly a million tons annually.

Of course, very, very little of this stainless steel goes to the creation of water bottles. Stainless steel is useful for a billion different reasons, and it's found pretty much everywhere you look, so it should come as no surprise that it's produced and used virtually everywhere.

Why Aren't Stainless Steel Water Bottles Made in the USA?

This is really the crux of the issue, isn't it? The USA makes stainless steel and imports stainless steel, but why is it that whenever you look for stainless steel water bottles, you see a lot of China? It's all messages like:

• "Designed in Washington, made in China."
• "Designed and printed in Tennessee, responsibly made in China."
• "Bottles imported from China."

Even if you look at social media and check out the resources other people mention, you see brands like Orca, Kleen Kanteen, and others mentioned, but when you dig in, all of them have similar messages; designed and finished in the USA, bottle manufactured in China.

If you're lucky and you shop around, you might find a few water bottles manufactured somewhere other than China, but the options are slim. A few companies make them in Japan, and a few are made in places like Spain, France, Thailand, or India.

If you find made-in-the-USA metal water bottles, chances are they're aluminum. Most made-in-the-USA water bottles are some form of plastic.

So why is it that stainless steel water bottles are seemingly only made in China?

The simple answer is just the economics. The facilities and machines necessary to manufacture double-walled vacuum-sealed stainless steel water bottles are very specialized. It costs a lot of money to set up a bottle manufacturing plant, get the hookup for stainless steel, make, finish, and sell the bottles on our local market. All of those costs need to be made up somewhere, which means the price for a steel water bottle made in the USA would be significantly higher than those made overseas and imported.

China simply has a monopoly over the manufacture of stainless steel water bottles. While we're not sure offhand, it wouldn't even be a surprise to learn that all of the companies importing water bottles here in the USA were getting them from the same handful of factories in China, no matter what brand name ends up on them at the end of the process.

What's Wrong with China-Made Stainless Steel Water Bottles?

That depends on what you consider an issue.

There are three main reasons why stainless steel water bottles made in China might not be what you're after.

The first is the fact that it's yet another imported product from China, which is something more and more people are trying to reduce. It's both part of the ongoing trade war with China, and part of the fact that so much of global commerce is concentrated in China that it gives them an outsized influence on the world.

The second is that, because it's an overseas product, you have to contend with the logistics of overseas shipping. It's undeniable that the ships that cross the oceans are massive sources of environmental pollution, in our oceans and in the skies, and that's not even getting into all of the overland transportation involved as well.

The third is on a more product-focused level. In order to create the vacuum layer between the inner and outer linings of the water bottle, air needs to be removed, and then the bottle needs to be sealed. The easiest way to do this is with lead, which can be melted and hardened into place without damaging the stainless steel itself.

Before you panic, yes, lead is toxic and can seep into water, but steel water bottles have caps and seals over that little bit of lead to make sure it's isolated. This is, however, why you're not supposed to put that kind of water bottle in the dishwasher; the heat can loosen up the seal and expose the lead.

There are ways to manufacture water bottles and seal them without lead, but those methods are both more complicated and more expensive. And that expense is why it's even less feasible to open up a new facility to make those water bottles domestically.

Some of the safety concerns are certainly overblown – not all steel from China is "toxic" as some people claim – but it's all part of the narrative that feeds the ongoing nationalism and the trade war.

Even so, it's not necessarily a bad thing to want domestic alternatives to overseas products. We just simply have no option when it comes to steel water bottles.

Can You Find American-Made Steel Water Bottles?

After everything we've written, you would expect the answer to this to be no, right?

Well, you're right; you can't, not really. At least, not the way you might think.

The truth is, there are a couple of ways you can get an American-made stainless steel water bottle.

The first is to shop vintage. America didn't always import all of its water bottles, and options like the Stanley Aladdin can be found on eBay and elsewhere. They aren't new, of course, and they may be a little run down or worn out, but they're steel, and they're American-made, so if that's what you want, you can get it. This particular bottle tends to range around $20-$40 for a 40–50-year-old vintage bottle.

Another option is something like this stainless steel canteen. It's a very different kind of water bottle, though; it's definitely canteen-shaped, and it's not double-walled or vacuum-insulated. It's just a metal container with food-safe solder made in the USA. The trick is, it's made in a vintage style, because it's aimed at historical reenactment. You lose out on modern conveniences like insulation and a good cap, but at least it's made in the USA.

These are two examples we found, but they're pretty representative of your options. There simply aren't any modern bottles made in the USA, so you're stuck with vintage options or overseas imports.

What's all the fuss over steel anyway? Well, stainless steel is extremely durable, it doesn't contain harmful chemicals or risk microplastics, it can't foster microbes, and it's easy to clean. As evidenced by the 50-year-old bottles for sale, it can last forever if it's cared for properly. And, with vacuum insulation, it can keep a cold beverage cold for 24 hours. They're just good products, and it's a shame that we don't make any of them here in the States.

You can, of course, get an import from another country. Some other manufacturers might not use lead (we've heard good things about some of the Japanese manufacturers, though we haven't checked them ourselves), but you still have issues with imports and global shipping to contend with.

What About Ethix?

We sell water bottles, yes. Most of the bottles we offer are made in the USA, some with union labor behind them. They're generally made of materials like tritan (a copolyester plastic that is BPA-free), PETE, or aluminum.

We also source a handful of double-wall stainless steel bottles that are finished and printed in the USA. For those bottles, the majority of the work (powder coating, finishing, decorating) is done here.

Why not browse the bottles in our store and see if something strikes your fancy? Whether it's for your team, for an event, or just for employee use, we have a ton of options, and you can have them fully customized however you like. We're also more than happy to talk about the ethics and sustainability involved in the processes behind them; we strive to make the best we can and do as much good as we can for this planet we're on, and we encourage you to do the same. So, be sure to let us know if you have any questions. We'd gladly answer them!