"Factory Man" actually addresses these questions in considerable detail. You might be surprised how difficult it is to produce good-looking finishes, veneers, etc -- especially at scale. There was a time when the American manufacturers thought their competition would never catch up (and then they explicitly trained their competition so they could outsource production, which backfired when retailers realized they could cut out the middleman and order directly from China/Vietnam/wherever the cheap labor currently is.)
American furniture manufacturing does have one significant advantage in the US compared to its offshore competitors: proximity. Furniture is bulky to store and time-consuming to ship. The one manufacturer who realized this, John Basset, is the titular "Factory Man" who has kept his factories running by doubling down on just-in-time delivery, etc.
Bassett Furniture is made in the US? I'm surprised the quality isn't better, the furniture I bought from them was (mostly) broken down & uncomfortable after a few months, and ultimately ended up being replaced within 3 years. What I replaced it with has lasted more than double the life of my former Basset furniture already.
Bassett Furniture was made in the US (some of it in the company town of Bassett, Virginia -- not far from where I live) for many years, but today my understanding is that much of it is manufactured offshore. John D. Bassett III comes from that family, and worked for Bassett Furniture for many years, but today he runs a separate company called Vaughan-Bassett that makes 100% of its furniture in the USA. [0]
The Bassett family history and corporate provenance is weird and a bit incestuous (both figuratively and literally; J.D. married a cousin), and I really do recommend reading Macy's book for the full scoop.
American furniture manufacturing does have one significant advantage in the US compared to its offshore competitors: proximity. Furniture is bulky to store and time-consuming to ship. The one manufacturer who realized this, John Basset, is the titular "Factory Man" who has kept his factories running by doubling down on just-in-time delivery, etc.