WASHINGTON -- Matt Roberts stood in a corner of the State Dining Room at the White House on Monday, showing samples of his company's Liberty Tabletop stainless steel silverware, when Rep. Claudia Tenney rushed over with a spoon in her hand.

Roberts, president of Sherrill Manufacturing, the Upstate New York firm that's America's last flatware maker, looked closely at the spoon with the eye of an experienced craftsman.

Tenney, R-New Hartford, asked if he could make out the brand and where it was made.

"It says Oneida Ltd.," Roberts said, shaking his head in disappointment. "It's made in China."

Tenney had just taken the spoon off a table where the White House served refreshments at its annual "Made in America Product Showcase." President Donald Trump established the annual event to show off American-made products.

Tenney and dozens of members of Congress, titans of American industry and members of Trump's cabinet used the foreign-made silverware at Monday's event. Oneida Ltd., once based in Central New York, now sells products made overseas.

Tenney and Sherrill Manufacturing have tried for months to convince the Trump White House to buy the American-made silverware. There's even bipartisan support. U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., asked Trump when he took office to buy the Liberty Tabletop utensils for state dinners.

In November, Tenney cornered Trump at the Capitol after he lobbied Republican members of Congress to vote for a bill overhauling the U.S. tax code.

"I'll buy it, I'll buy it," Trump promised Tenney in an exchange recorded on video on her cell phone. "Done!"

Greg Owens, co-founder and CEO of Sherrill Manufacturing, said a member of the White House hospitality staff approached him and Roberts at Monday's event and expressed interest in their product, including their patriotic Betsy Ross line of silverware.

But he has been through this before. A White House official called Owens after Trump's November promise, but Owens said he never heard back from the administration.

Roberts said he understood why the company might not be a priority.

"With all of the things going on in the world, forks and spoons in your kitchen are not exactly the top priority at the White House," Roberts said.

Owens said he was told by a White House aide later Monday that Trump had seen the Liberty Tabletop flatware during a private tour of the State Dining Room after it had been cleared of guests.

"Apparently he pointed it out and said, 'I want this stuff in the White House.' So I'm expecting a phone call or email in the next couple of days," Owens said.

Roberts and Owens are former Oneida Ltd. executives who bought the company's plant in the Oneida County city of Sherrill for $1 million on March 22, 2005 and reopened it the next day as Sherrill Manufacturing.

Oneida Ltd., which once employed 2,500 people producing 3.5 million forks, knives and spoons a week, no longer manufactures in the United States. But Sherrill Manufacturing has managed to find a niche, selling its Liberty Tabletop brand directly to consumers through its website.

Owens said Monday that the company has continued to grow since Trump invited Sherrill Manufacturing to the White House in July 2017. Production has increased 33 percent, employment has grown from 42 to 54, and net income is expected to eclipse $5 million this year.

The company has increased its sales to the federal government this year, with big orders from the Navy and State Department for its embassies, Owens said.

Among those to stop by the Liberty Tabletop display at the White House on Monday were two of Trump's most influential economic advisers -- Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Peter Navarro, the president's top trade adviser. Neither one was familiar with the brand.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross holds an American-made spoon from Sherrill Manufacturing in Oneida County, New York, on Tuesday, July 23, 2018 at the White House. Rep. Claudia Tenney, explained to Ross that the White House uses Chinese-made spoons from Oneida Ltd.

But a White House military aide stopped by and told Roberts the flatware looked familiar. The woman had served on the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

"Well, you've probably used our flatware," Roberts said. "We supplied the ship."

Contact Mark Weiner: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751