Speaking Fenders (and Gibsons too, naturally,) there are checks in place to ensure that the US made versions are of the highest quality.
My Les Paul was made in Canada. I do not believe that Canadians are unable to produce as high a quality guitar as US Americans, but they are, I believe, not allowed to.
The difference in cost between an American Les Paul and its equivalent US model is approximately $250-300. The difference in quality is less. The smart money, among most guitarists, is to buy the non-US version, take it to a decent luthier, and give them $75-100 to bring it up to par which, in my experience, actually leaves you with a better guitar than the Memphis version (excluding the much more expensive customs.)
Regardless, many consider the US version to be the best of the bunch, and are generally happy to pay the premium.
The major difference of course is in the fit and finish. You have to enforce a quality difference that is, effectively, arbitrary. In Apple's case, that means deliberately reducing a lesser-quality product for the non-US products, which seems contrary to their 'ship perfection' mentality.
It might work, it might not, but the key is in distinguishing between the product versions in some way. Perhaps this could be accomplished with a slightly different feature set, or maybe the 'white' iphone could be reserved for US manufacture, I dunno, but I honestly have a hard time imagining that there is a significant population of consumers willing to pay for the "Made in the USA" version, if only because the "Made in the USA" version of other products have not performed up to expectations.
My Les Paul was made in Canada. I do not believe that Canadians are unable to produce as high a quality guitar as US Americans, but they are, I believe, not allowed to.
The difference in cost between an American Les Paul and its equivalent US model is approximately $250-300. The difference in quality is less. The smart money, among most guitarists, is to buy the non-US version, take it to a decent luthier, and give them $75-100 to bring it up to par which, in my experience, actually leaves you with a better guitar than the Memphis version (excluding the much more expensive customs.)
Regardless, many consider the US version to be the best of the bunch, and are generally happy to pay the premium.
The major difference of course is in the fit and finish. You have to enforce a quality difference that is, effectively, arbitrary. In Apple's case, that means deliberately reducing a lesser-quality product for the non-US products, which seems contrary to their 'ship perfection' mentality.
It might work, it might not, but the key is in distinguishing between the product versions in some way. Perhaps this could be accomplished with a slightly different feature set, or maybe the 'white' iphone could be reserved for US manufacture, I dunno, but I honestly have a hard time imagining that there is a significant population of consumers willing to pay for the "Made in the USA" version, if only because the "Made in the USA" version of other products have not performed up to expectations.