Eh, Cannondale is made in China. That made in USA thing only exists on shop signs - maybe they are made in USA. Does that make them bad bikes? No.
As far as choosing between cross country hardtails. Do as an earlier poster suggested: ride them and compare the component specs. The one that feels better/had better components is the one you should buy.
At any given price point, the quality of frames are highly unlikely to be meaningfully different between otherwise similar bikes.
V.