All Remington pump shotguns are still made in Ilion, NY. The 870 Express is a fine American-made shotgun that will serve you well for HD or any other purpose.
It's entirely possible to make junk in the US. This has been proven over and over again. By Remington, on occasion...
The 870 is a perfectly adequate HD gun as long as you run decent ammo in it. I have never had a jam in thousands of rounds, except with Winchester Universals, which have to be some of the worst shells sold in the US. They're birdshot anyway, which you shouldn't use for HD.
The Express rust issue is a real one. I believe that, on my gun, the salts weren't cleaned off properly at the factory. Soaking in CLP or similar, getting all the salts and existing rust off, then keeping the gun oiled with Rem Oil, CLP, etc. will preserve it in an environment with average humidity. If you live along the Eastern Seaboard or the Gulf Coast, I would probably get something other than the Express, or I'd coat it.
The 870 is not a
fine gun, and it was never meant to be.
Fine shotguns are at least an order of magnitude higher in price, and go up to the stratosphere from there. It won't serve
well for
any purpose, either, but it will work fine for HD.
The 870 is engineered for mass production using WW II industrial technology. It works quite well, but there have been much
nicer pump guns made. These nicer guns (Winchester Model 12, Ithaca 37, Remington 31) tend to appeal much more to the few connoisseurs who have any interest in pump guns any more.
The pump in general used to occupy a pretty high place in the shotgun heirarchy. They were once used for serious clay target competition, and Remington used to sell fancy versions of the 870 for premium prices. Nobody uses pump guns for serious clay target shooting any more. The pump gun moved way downmarket, and the 870 succeeded in shifting along with the whole market segment. This is to its credit.
However, you have to understand that, at a foodie website, people aren't going to be all that interested in which local truckstop has the least-bad $1 burger. That doesn't mean that any given $1 burger will give you tomaine poisoning.