I live in the UK, not the US. It's a global phenomenon! It's probably due to some combination of limited brand power (most people have no idea who makes taps o

I live in the UK, not the US. It's a global phenomenon! It's probably due to some combination of limited brand power (most people have no idea who makes taps or cupboards), rarely made decisions (how often do you renovate a house? The only people doing it often are the commercial ones who have no interest in longevity. Everyone else is naive) and very long feedback cycles. (A kitchen should be able to withstand 20 years+ of use, but by the time you realise that it's falling apart after 10, it's too late.) Nobody in the whole process has any interest in the fittings being robust except the buyer, and they almost certainly don't want to spend weeks researching and specifying every single bit (or take on the risk of specifying all the bits, only to find that they don't fit together). So they outsource the part selection to the kitchen designer or builder, who's main motivation is getting something that looks OK and has a good profit margin. Interestingly I would add the one area this doesn't appear to be a problem is in kitchen appliances. Maybe it's because brand recognition is so much better.