Recently, retail giant Walmart avoided action by the FTC regarding its ‘Made in the U.S.A.’ labeling after the company agreed to remove the logos from its e-commerce website, according to a recent article at Fortune. This past summer, a watchdog group claimed to have found more than 100 examples of products on Walmart’s website that were labeled ‘Made in the U.S.A.’ which the group said was misleading to consumers, as some of the products contained ingredients whose origins were not from the U.S. At that time, a spokesman said that coding errors were responsible for “a small percentage” of those mislabeled items.
Walmart avoided action by the FTC by taking voluntary steps to prevent consumer deception, which includes removing U.S. country of origin claims on some product titles and descriptions, and ‘Made in the U.S.A.’ logos from website product listings. Additionally, the retail giant is also committed to offering more detailed disclosures regarding the percentage of U.S. content a product contains, so that consumers can feel confident in finding the information they are looking for, and know the true origin of the products they purchase.
Considering that 80% of Americans want products that are made in our country when possible according to a survey conducted by Consumer Reports, Walmart began its efforts to source billions in U.S. made goods two years ago. It appears that in the future, the company will be more transparent when it comes to products that are made fully in the U.S., and those that may have components or ingredients made outside of the U.S. Many products offered by a variety of retail stores around the nation are comprised of components that come from both the U.S. and other sources.
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