In a victory for the made-in-the-USA movement, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has leveled its first ever financial penalty against a retailer for misleading country-of-origin claims.
Williams Sonoma was accused of making false, misleading or unsubstantiated claims that several of their product lines were made in America.
These included bakeware and furniture the FTC described as “wholly imported, or contained significant imported materials or components.”
According to the FTC, products with these labels should contain virtually no material or components from other countries.
As part of a settlement with Williams Sonoma, the company has agreed to stop making the claims and pay a fine of $1 million.
Scott Paul, the president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), called the ruling “a historic step forward.”
AAM says it will continue to encourage the FTC to “get tough on the cheaters.”
