Made in the USA: the "self-certified" label called to order

By

Matthieu Guinebault

Published
Nov 28, 2014

The American Federal Trade Commission has cracked down: the company supplying the "Made in the USA" label was doing so without relying on an independent study of the brands. From now on it will have to justify its choices.

Until now, brands just had to pay 2,000 dollars to be able to affix the label on their products and marketing tools. It was the only condition for being able to display the "self-certified" label, with the body clearly indicating that it doesn't verify the origin of its members' products.

A lack of clarity judged to mislead consumers by nature, is how the American authority sees it. Now for the label to be attributed, from now on it will have to base its decision on an independent study funded by the brands. Some American publications have already announced the impending death of the label, whose economic model has been weakened.

This is the decision made by the FTC, at a time when the United States is seeing a significant wave of relocation, notably due to the increase in salaries in China. Some 20% of companies which previously had their production in China have already started to bring their production back to the United States. And another 24% are considering following them, according to the Boston Consulting Group.