Fiz
as a fellow manufacturer of over 50 years , many of the first ten years as an ME and manager of Engineering departments before becoming a manufacturer myself,
This topic reminds me of an old cigarette commercial whose slogan was "a silly millimeter longer".
You and I both realize the significance of clearance tolerances and precise tolerances.
The Common term for things that exceed those is called 'wear" if they were in production and have gotten out of spec, or "made in China" if something came to ya NEW and it was made in China and out of spec.
There's an important reason things have specifications
and tolerances. Bad things happen when when those specified tolerances are NOT kept and enforced.
The engineer wasn't stupid or just making a suggestion.
I don;t know anything about the Chinese stuff as I have never bought any of it. The Japanese precision engineered products are usually very high quality.
Just my experience... 
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