FTC aims to change meaning of 'Made in U.S.A.' label

PHOENIX, AZ -- The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is proposing to no longer restrict use of the "Made in U.S.A." label to products and advertisements for merchandise that are made in America, reported Charlie Mercer, president of the Union Label and Trades Department, AFL-CIO.

Mercer, speaking before the annual convention of the Western Labor Press Association held in Arizona in conjunction with the Union Industries Show, said that the FTC announced it will permit use of the Made in U.S.A. label for products which either are:

"Last substantially transformed" in the U.S. and have at least 75 percent U.S. manufacturing costs, or without regard to U.S. manufacturing costs, both the products "and all significant parts and components" were last substantially transformed in the U.S.

Products that meet one of those two tests would qualify for the label as made in the U.S., the FTC said.

Mercer said that the agency's new guidelines "would make the label a fraud on the American public and open the door even wider to the export of U.S. jobs."

Mercer asked members of the Western Labor Press Association to publicize the proposed changes and urged readers of labor publications to write Congress and ask their representative and senators to oppose tinkering with the Made in U.S.A. label.

"Congress has a watchdog function over the FTC," Mercer said. "Its members should be made aware of what's going on and urged to step in."

When the FTC held a workshop on proposals to weaken the standard in March 1996, the majority of those participating were representatives of industries that have moved substantial parts of their operations overseas "at the cost of hundreds of thousands of good American jobs," Mercer said. "It was obvious they now recognize the considerable commercial value of the Made in U.S.A. label and want to be able to use it anyway."

Mercer said the Made in U.S.A. label is simple, clear and easily understood.

"The words no longer would mean what they say under the new guidelines proposed by the FTC," he said.

Jodie Bernstein, director of the FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection, told the Union Label and Service Trades Department that the proposed guidelines are an attempt to both "keep up with changes in the global economy and ensure that consumers are not deceived."

The FTC is accepting written comments until Aug. 11.