Further clarification....
NEF/H&R was/were small offshoots of Marlin. I am not sure of how they came around, but anyway. Marlin was recently purchased by Cerberus, who also owns Remington. Also, production has not been moved to the US. It has always been here.
Anyway, I have a friend that owns a few H&R guns. Rifles and shotguns. Never an issue with any of them. Good weapons.