The $200,000 fine levied against a Utah clothing company for ripping out "Made in China" tags and replacing them with "Made in the USA" labels is just the latest example of the Federal Trade Commission's stepped-up enforcement efforts that started during President Donald Trump's administration.
Lions Not Sheep was fined $211,335 after claiming that the company’s apparel was American made and adding “Made in the USA” tags to its internationally imported products, according to the FTC.
This week, the FTC also filed a complaint against a marketer after claiming that Adam J. Harmon and two companies he controls falsely told consumers that the personal protective equipment they sold during the pandemic was American made. The commission referred the complaint to the United States Justice Department, but the order would require Harmon and the companies to pay $157,683 as a civil penalty.
The string of complaints comes after the FTC codified a new ruling to deter manufacturers from falsely labeling products with “Made in the USA” tags, which some experts have attributed to the increased number of complaints the commission has filed in the last year.
“They tightened things up and then they really started acting, going after violators more so than in the preceding couple of decades,” said Charles Lindsey, an associate marketing professor at the University at Buffalo School of Management.
The rule change last summer was in line with the agency's trend in stepped-up enforcement: 70%...
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