US manufactures were the first to automate, so many of them are with 1st/2nd generation gear that is designed for high throughput operation and not around setup time. These machines can take several hours to change what they make.

Also, manufactures have become jaded with new customers as they are constantly asking for them to move mountains for overseas pricing. Manufactures typically have a big enough collection of frequent customers that they can use bad first customer support as a means to filter out people who will go overseas anyways after they hear the quote the manufacturer spent a fair amount of time on. If a customer is willing to pass the gauntlet of trying to contact you, they are much less likely to disappear after you give them a quote.