Three Senators Ask for Tougher 'Made in America' Enforcement
Three Democratic senators wrote a letter to the Federal Trade Commission, asking it to do a better job of enforcing its "Made in the USA" standards. "In the cases of Nectar Sleep, Sandpiper/PiperGear USA, and Patriot Puck specifically, we are concerned that the Commission chose to forgo financial penalties and did not require admissions of guilt," they wrote. "In all three instances, the companies brazenly and fraudulently affixed 'Made in the USA' labels to foreign-made products, most of which were imported from China." The three companies settled with the FTC in September, but did not admit guilt. Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, and Chris Murphy of Connecticut wrote: "If the consequences of misusing the 'Made in the USA' label do not include paying fines or admitting wrongdoing, it is unlikely that bad actors [such as these] will be deterred from using the same deceptive tactics to sell their products in the future."
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The FTC itself already recognized that enforcement could be stronger (see 1809130036), though commissioners also defended the practice of getting companies to desist and holding a monetary penalty in abeyance in case there is another violation. The commissioners were responding specifically to cases involving those three companies, which, respectively, imported mattresses from China, wallets and backpacks, and hockey pucks. Commissioners said only one of 20 companies that had reached settlements on Made in the USA violated again.