There are motors, then there are motors - regardless of where they're made.
In general, any Chinese made motor will be inferior compared to a non-Chinese motor within a given price and design class. That's because Chinese products tend to suffer from quality control issues, materials issues, etc. These are all tendencies, not absolute rules. But you can specify China use the finest alloys and fasteners if you wish...they'll provide whatever does or doesn't suit them at the time. No one bends or ignores rules like the Chinese. If you insist on material certs and show them what the cert needs to look like, they'll print them up and send those to you, no problem.
A WEG motor made in Brazil will be of the highest quality you can buy anywhere - if you're buying their highest quality product. For example, an IEEE 841-spec low voltage motor. If you buy a washing machine grade motor, don't expect as much even though you can buy 10 of them for the price of one IEEE 841 motor.
Baldor has one foot in the grave...not because of poor quality but because of their ownership.
China is a bit different than most other countries. Why? While it's true people drive the market by insisting on 'cheap', China is the repository for cheap manufacturing. It goes hand in hand. No one says, "Let's build a factory in China to produce our best products". They say, "Let's build our best products here and let China handle all the cheap stuff".
I've been in the motor industry 35+ years and I don't know any motor maker who builds their best product in China. Not a single one. Pick any maker who has factories in multiple countries and the Chinese plant will be the lowest grade by default. It's a given. There is only one reason to manufacture in China...it's not leadtime, quality, or capability. It's cost.
People bitch about electric motors all the time....they are and have been the least troublesome and most efficient method of driving a load for decades. Nothing comes close.
