Dive Brief:

• Three clothing accessory companies and their owner were fined $191,481 for saying their products were made in the United States when most of the work and materials were from outside the country, the Federal Trade Commission says.
• In settling with the agency, the companies agreed to notify customers that the products they bought didn’t meet the “Made in USA” definition. Going forward, they can make the claim if the products meet the definition in the FTC’s labeling rule, published in 2021, and if they don’t, to qualify the claim with an explanation.
• “‘Made in USA’ means what it says,” Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement. “Falsely labeling products as ‘Made in USA’ hurts consumers and competition, and the FTC will continue to aggressively enforce the law to stop deceptive claims and hold violators accountable.”

Dive Insight:

The settlement is between the FTC and Thomas Bates and three companies he owns: Chaucer Accessories, Bates Accessories and Bates Retail Group.

The companies make and sell accessories like belts, bags, wallets and shoes.

The FTC filed a complaint in March accusing the companies of promoting products to retailers and consumers as Made in USA when the labeling didn’t apply to the materials or assembly.

In one instance, the companies imported belt straps from Taiwan, affixed buckles to the straps in the United States and then labeled and advertised the finished products as “Made in USA from...

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