"Made in USA" Review

I. ENFORCEMENT POLICY STATEMENT

On December 1, 1997, the Commission announced an Enforcement Policy Statement on U.S. Origin Claims outlining the factors the Commission will consider in determining whether a U.S. origin claim is deceptive. The Enforcement Policy Statement was published in the Federal Register on December 2, 1997. The Enforcement Policy Statement, the Federal Register notice setting forth the basis for the Commission’s action, and the News Release announcing it are available on this site. The Federal Register notice is available for downloading in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. To download a file, simply click on the indicated link. If you do not have a copy of the free Acrobat Reader software, a link to Adobe’s website is provided for your convenience at the bottom of this page. In adopting the Enforcement Policy Statement, the Commission withdrew and rejected the Proposed Guides for the Use of U.S. Origin Claims that the Commission published for public comment on May 7, 1997.

II. PRIOR EVENTS IN "MADE IN USA" REVIEW

Previous documents concerning the "Made in USA" Review also are available on this site. Prior to announcing the Enforcement Policy Statement, the FTC published Proposed Guides for the Use of U.S. Origin Claims for public comment on May 7, 1997. Both the Proposed Guides (which have now been superseded by the Enforcement Policy Statement) and the comments on the Proposed Guides appear below. In addition, the FTC had earlier held a public workshop and solicited public comment on how it should evaluate "Made in USA" and other U.S. origin claims. Transcripts of the workshop, as well as the written comments received during this earlier comment period, are also available on this site.

Comments Received in Response to Proposed Guides for the Use of U.S. Origin Claims

As of December 1, 1997, when the Commission announced its Enforcement Policy Statement, the Commission had received almost 1100 public comments on the Proposed Guides for the Use of U.S. Origin Claims published on May 7, 1997. Comments 1 through 1014 appear on this site. A complete set of comments is available for inspection in Room 130 at the FTC=s Headquarters at Sixth St. and Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC. Typewritten comments generally are available for downloading in html format; handwritten and graphical comments (which are marked by the symbol) are available for viewing or downloading in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. To download the file, simply click on the indicated link. If you do not have a copy of the free Acrobat Reader software, a link to Adobe=s website is provided for your convenience at the bottom of this page.

Proposed Guides for the Use of U.S. Origin Claims

  • Federal Register Notice announcing results of FTC review (including text of Proposed Guides on U.S. Origin Claims) (5/7/97) [PDF 360K]

    This Federal Register notice is available for downloading in both WordPerfect 6.1 and Adobe Acrobat PDF formats. To download the file simply click on the indicated link. If you do not have a copy of the free Acrobat Reader software, a link to Adobe's website is provided for your convenience at the bottom of this page.

Request for Public Comment in Preparation for FTC Workshop on the Use of "Made in USA" Claims in Product Advertising and Labeling

On October 18, 1995, the Federal Trade Commission published a Federal Register notice soliciting public comment on whether it should alter its legal standard for evaluating "Made in USA" claims. The FTC held a public workshop on this issue on March 26-27, 1996, with representatives from consumer groups, industry, government agencies, labor unions, and other groups participating in an exchange of views. After the workshop, the FTC published a Federal Register notice extending the period for public comment until June 30, 1996, and setting forth additional questions for comment.

  • Federal Register Notice (10/18/95) (announcing review and soliciting comment)
  • News Release (10/17/95)
  • Federal Register Notice (12/19/95) (announcing dates of public workshop)
  • News Release (12/19/95)
  • Federal Register Notice (4/26/96) (extending time for comments and setting forth additional questions for comment)
  • Public Comments
    The following list provides links to the public comments received. They run from 1 through 343. The comments available in three separate formats: ASCII (*.txt), Microsoft Word 6.0 (*.doc), and WordPerfect 5.1 (*.wp5). Associated image files are in Tagged Image File Format (*.TIF). For your convenience, the respective file sizes are also listed.

Last Modified: Monday, June 25, 2007