When we’re deciding between buying two products, if one product says, “Made in the USA,” does that influence how we make our decision? For many people, it does, and we all have a reasonable expectation that the claim is truthful.
Earlier this week, the FTC announced a settlement with Williams-Sonoma. The company has agreed to stop making false, misleading, or unsubstantiated ‘Made in the USA’ claims for several of their houseware and furniture product lines. As part of the settlement, Williams-Sonoma is required to pay $1 million to the FTC.
“Made in USA” is not a sales claim just any company can make. It is an objective representation that many consumers find highly relevant and it requires solid substantiation.
According to the FTC’s complaint, numerous Williams-Sonoma product lines, including Goldtouch Bakeware products, and Pottery Barn Kids furniture were wholly imported, or contained significant imported materials or components making Williams-Sonoma’s representations false or misleading.
The FTC has laws and guidelines to help businesses know when it is appropriate to use the Made in USA label. That, in turn, helps people trust the labels they see.
Here are some tips to keep in mind as you shop:
- A company that makes a “Made in the USA” or other United States origin claim for its product without additional qualification should be able to prove that all (or almost all) of the product was made in the United States. Products with these labels should contain virtually no material or components from other countries.
- In general, products processed or finished in the USA that contain materials from other countries should not be labeled “Made in the USA” without further explanation. Look for qualifying statements near the claim that explain which components of the product come from the USA.
It is your choice whether to submit a comment. If you do, you must create a user name, or we will not post your comment. The Federal Trade Commission Act authorizes this information collection for purposes of managing online comments. Comments and user names are part of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) public records system, and user names also are part of the FTC’s computer user records system. We may routinely use these records as described in the FTC’s Privacy Act system notices. For more information on how the FTC handles information that we collect, please read our privacy policy.
The purpose of this blog and its comments section is to inform readers about Federal Trade Commission activity, and share information to help them avoid, report, and recover from fraud, scams, and bad business practices. Your thoughts, ideas, and concerns are welcome, and we encourage comments. But keep in mind, this is a moderated blog. We review all comments before they are posted, and we won’t post comments that don’t comply with our commenting policy. We expect commenters to treat each other and the blog writers with respect.
We don't edit comments to remove objectionable content, so please ensure that your comment contains none of the above. The comments posted on this blog become part of the public domain. To protect your privacy and the privacy of other people, please do not include personal information. Opinions in comments that appear in this blog belong to the individuals who expressed them. They do not belong to or represent views of the Federal Trade Commission.
In reply to I make it a requirement to by Always buy U.S.A.
In reply to Why are cereal companies not by Born in the USA.