Your US Manufacturing Partner
for Onshoring and Reshoring
Whether you're entering the US market or bringing production home, we assemble, test, ship, and repair your product in Canton, Michigan, USA. ISO-certified and Buy America-ready.
The Case for Building in the US
Tariffs, domestic-content rules, and customers asking for US-made products have made US final assembly a requirement for many programs.
If you sell into the US from overseas, that may mean you need a US operation. If you build offshore today, it may mean bringing some of that work home. Either way, you’ll want a US contract manufacturer with the certifications and capacity to handle it. Lotus has been building in Canton, Michigan, for 31+ years.
- Less exposure to import tariffs, now at multi-decade highs
- A path into projects with domestic-content rules, including IRA and IIJA work
- US-assembled products for customers who ask where things are made
- Assembly records that support federal and state procurement filings
- A supply chain that doesn't depend on one overseas region
What's your breakeven tariff?
Four quick questions with numbers you already have. Watch what one unit really costs you once duty, freight and cash are counted, and the US price that beats it.
What do you pay for one unit today?
Your supplier's invoice price (FOB), before freight and duty.
No numbers handy?
You'll need your tariff rate, freight per unit and lead time, and a US quote if you have one.
What tariff do you pay on it?
Add up every duty line on your entry summary (CBP Form 7501): the base rate plus any added duties.
How does it get to you?
Do you have a US quote to compare?
If not, we'll work out the US price that beats what you pay now.
Your breakeven
Sample numbers.
Adjust the assumptions
Estimates, not customs, tax or financial advice. Your numbers stay in your browser unless you make a share link (kept for 30 days) or send them to us.
Show the math per unit
Your scenario is attached. Tell us who you are.
We'll come back with a real US unit price to replace the estimate: a budgetary quote within one business day of receiving your BOM. Reply to our confirmation email with it.
Two Starting Points, One Partner
Same facility, same quality system, same team for both.
A US Operation Without Building One
The challenge
Tariffs cut into your margin, and Buy America bids need US assembly you don't have. Building your own US operation would take years and capital you'd rather spend on product.
How we help
Your existing suppliers ship sub-assemblies to Canton, and our broker partner clears them through customs. We assemble, test, prepare the Buy America documentation, and ship to your customers, all under our ISO 9001 and 14001 quality system. Your brand, our operation. Our team includes Chinese, Korean, and Spanish speakers.
Bring It Home Without Starting Over
The challenge
Lead times keep slipping, tariffs have eaten the savings, or customers want it made in the US. Moving production looks costly and risky, but so does staying put.
How we help
A planned, step-by-step transfer. We review your current build, flag parts that need a US source to meet domestic-content rules, qualify suppliers, and run first-article validation before we ramp. Nothing your team has learned about building it gets lost; only the manufacturing moves to Canton.
Your US Service Hub
Build wherever you build. Lotus runs the US side from Canton, Michigan.
Ship it in
From wherever you build. Our licensed customs broker partner clears it, we receive it in Canton, and we can finish it with US final assembly.
Ship it out
Stored, kitted, and shipped to your customers anywhere in the US — half the US and Canadian population is within 1,130 km.
Bring it back
Returns come to Canton: RMAs, depot repair with same-day advance replacement, and refurbishment for resale.
Your Imports, Cleared and Delivered to Canton
Our licensed customs broker partner clears your freight at the port and trucks it to our dock in Canton. You send the bill of lading, and the broker and Lotus handle the rest.
In most programs you stay the importer of record, and the broker files on your behalf.
Lotus and our broker handle
- Security filing The ISF (10+2) for ocean freight, filed before it sails
- Tariff classification HTS codes for what you ship
- Customs entry and duties Entry filed and duties paid on your behalf
- Customs bond Arranged if you don't already have one
- Holds and exams If CBP stops a shipment, we work it through
- Port to Canton Picked up at the port or airport and trucked to our dock
You send
- The bill of lading We take it from there
Ready for Your Buy America Review
If your program relies on federal or state preferences for US-made goods, your procurement team will ask where the product is assembled, who owns the company assembling it, and what quality system it’s built under. Our answers: final assembly in Canton, Michigan; a US-based company with no foreign ownership; and ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 certification.
- Buy America-ready: US final assembly, with country-of-origin documentation
- US-based with no foreign ownership, to support your team's NDAA review
- Documentation for IRA and IIJA domestic-content requirements
- Full traceability on every production run
- Assembly, testing, and records all in Canton, so audits stay simple
Your Onshoring Transition, in Six Steps
Moving production is a project, not a purchase order. We run it like one, with a plan, clear handoffs, and documentation at every step.
1. Assess
We review your current build: BOM, suppliers, tooling, IP, and the regulations you work under. Then we sort out what moves, what stays offshore, and what needs a US source to meet domestic-content rules.
2. Plan
You get a transition timeline, a cost model, a supplier qualification schedule, and a list of the compliance documents your program needs. No surprises.
3. Transfer
Tooling, documentation, and your team's know-how move to Canton. Where Buy America or your program's domestic-content rules call for it, we qualify US suppliers at the same time.
4. Validate
First-article validation, golden-sample sign-off, and pilot runs against your acceptance criteria. We don't ramp until your engineers confirm the US-built units match the originals.
5. Ramp
We scale from pilot to full production with weekly volume reviews, KPI dashboards, and engineers on call, adding shifts and lines as the program grows.
6. Sustain
Ongoing program management: quarterly reviews, supplier performance tracking, engineering change orders, depot repair for field returns, and continuous improvement.
Industries We Serve
We run onshoring programs in every industry we serve. Pick yours to see the certifications and repair services that apply.
Why Canton, Michigan, USA
Canton sits in the middle of the Midwest’s industrial corridor. Ford, GM, Stellantis, their Tier 1 suppliers, and new EV-charging and energy-storage investment are all close by.
For your program, that means an experienced manufacturing workforce, a dense supplier network, and easy site visits.
- Twenty minutes from Big 3 OEM headquarters and Tier 1 engineering centers
- Half the US and Canadian population, about 180 million people, within 1,130 km
- About 25 minutes from Detroit Metro Airport (DTW) for air freight
- 12 truck wells for just-in-time deliveries and returns
- One accountable team, with every program under one roof
Onshoring & Reshoring Manufacturing FAQ
Onshoring means moving manufacturing back to your home country, usually from overseas (China, Vietnam) or from nearby countries (Mexico, Latin America). For a US brand, it typically means moving production from an offshore contract manufacturer to a US one. It has picked up over the past decade because of tariffs, supply-chain disruptions, IRA and IIJA domestic-content rules, customers asking for US-made products, and concerns about protecting IP. Lotus is a US-based contract manufacturer in Canton, Michigan, USA, that runs onshoring transitions for companies bringing production back from overseas.
Onshoring and reshoring are often used interchangeably: both mean bringing manufacturing back to the home country (for us, the US). Some people reserve reshoring for production that was offshored before and is now returning, and use onshoring for any move toward domestic manufacturing. Nearshoring is different: it moves production to a nearby country, usually Mexico for US companies. Nearshoring can shorten shipping and reduce some tariffs, but it doesn't count as US production under Buy America rules; onshoring and reshoring can. Lotus handles the US side: final assembly in Michigan, with the documentation Buy America programs ask for.
Most companies start with a shortlist of three to five US contract manufacturers that fit their product, volumes, and certification needs. Industry directories (ThomasNet, GlobalSpec), trade associations (NAM, IPC), supplier-diversity networks (NMSDC), and federal procurement databases (SAM.gov) are common places to look. To narrow the list, compare five things: experience with products like yours, ISO and program-specific certifications, the kind of work each shop is built for (high-mix and complex, or high-volume), how thoroughly they document domestic content, and how they protect your IP. We're happy to be judged on all five. Tell us about your product through our contact form and we'll outline where we fit.
We're a US-based company with no foreign ownership, assembling in the US under ISO 9001 and 14001. Those are the facts procurement teams check when vetting suppliers for programs with NDAA requirements. Compliance itself (Section 848 limits on drones and drone components from covered countries, Section 889 for telecom equipment, and so on) is decided at the bill-of-materials level, and that stays with your team. We build within your program's requirements; we don't certify its compliance.
It depends on how many suppliers need qualifying, what documentation your program requires, and how complex the tooling transfer is. A simple box build with a stable BOM moves faster than a program with several suppliers and Buy America re-sourcing. You get a timeline for your program in the Plan step, before anything moves to Canton.
No. We work with customers across the US and from overseas. Canton is convenient for Midwest manufacturers, but with 12 truck wells, half the US and Canadian population within 1,130 km, and an in-house 3PL operation, we ship nationwide. Overseas companies send sub-assemblies and components to Canton, and we handle the rest.
We don't have a hard MOQ. We're a high-mix, high-complexity contract manufacturer, and most programs run from 1,000 to 100,000+ units a year. Smaller pilot runs and first-article batches are how we prove out a new program before it scales. Tell us your expected volumes and we'll talk through the options.
Every program starts with a mutual NDA, and we treat your designs, tooling, and program documents as confidential. Lotus is a privately held US company with no foreign parent company or investors, so your IP never passes through foreign ownership.
For programs that need Buy America, IRA, or IIJA documentation, we provide a substantial-transformation certification package: where final assembly took place, a country-of-origin breakdown of the BOM, and an attestation of the labor-cost percentage. We also support DFARS-aligned documentation for federal programs. The format depends on the program, and we work to your customer's required template.
Yes, that's a common setup for us. We act as your US operation: customs clearance through our broker partner, receiving, sub-assembly, final assembly, testing, fulfillment, and depot repair. Your engineering and product teams stay where they are, and the manufacturing happens in Canton. You skip the years and capital it would take to set up your own US operation.
Yes, through our licensed customs broker partner. The broker files the ISF before ocean freight sails, classifies your goods, files the entry, pays the duties on your behalf, arranges a customs bond if you need one, and works through any CBP hold or exam. The freight is then trucked from the port to Canton, where we receive it into inventory. All you send is the bill of lading. In most programs you stay the importer of record.
Yes. We've run fully private-label programs (your brand, our manufacturing), co-branded programs (your customers know we build it), and white-label depot repair. The right model depends on how you sell and what your customers expect, and we're happy to walk through the options.
Thinking about a US partner?
A few quick questions, about two minutes. We'll be in touch within one business day.