Made in the USA

Promoting your product as “Made in the USA” or “Made in [my state]” is an excellent marketing tool. In fact, it’s such a good marketing tool that it’s been abused over the years. Now there are regulations setting standards for what constitutes a truthful “Made in the USA” claim. Saying that your product is made in the USA when it doesn’t meet those standards is considered false and deceptive advertising and is prohibited.

The “Made in the USA” standards are set and enforced by the Federal Trade Commission. Their enforcement authority ranges from a warning letter requiring changes in promotional material, restriction on future “made in the USA claims”, all the way to imposing significant fines through court orders. In January 2024, Kubota North America Corporation was required to pay a penalty of over $2 million, the largest ever Made in the USA case penalty, because they falsely stated that some of their parts were made in the US when they were, in fact, made overseas.

Making the Claim

There are many ways to communicate to the consumer that your product is made in the USA.

Obviously, stating “Made in the USA” would would be a Made in the USA claim. However, there are other ways that the same concept can be communicated. In addition, the FTC recently clarified that stating that a product is made in a STATE is considered a “Made in the USA” claim. Potential Made in the USA claims:

• Produced, handcrafted, build, created or manufactured in the USA (or “United States” or “America”)
• A US flag
• “Our products are American made”
• “Built with true American quality”
• “Made with love in Michigan”
• “Handcrafted in Georgia”

The standards apply to claims made on product labels as well as on any type of promotional material, such as mail order, email, catalog, or website.

However, stating the business name and a US-based address (as is required on product labels) is not considered a “Made in the USA” claim.

Meeting The Standard

The standard for an unqualified, flat-out statement that a product or service is “Made in the USA” is that:

For small businesses located in the USA that are making soap, cosmetics, or other household products, the first two requirements are usually covered; it’s the last one that is difficult.

To qualify, all or virtually all of the ingredients or components must be sourced from the US. “Virtually” is not defined in terms of percentages.¹ However, the longstanding FTC policy specifies that “all significant parts and processing” should be of US origin and that it should contain“no—or negligible—foreign content.

Possibilities for a lavender bath bomb:

A “Made in the USA” claim IS ACCEPTABLE if:

• All ingredients in the bath bomb are made in or sourced from US sources; or
• The bath bomb uses a small amount of alcohol from a foreign source. In this case the alcohol is not a significant part of the product and is used in a negligible amount.

A “Made in the USA” claim IS NOT ACCEPTABLE if:

• The lavender essential oil used in the bath bomb is sourced from France. The lavender scent is a significant part of the product because the consumer is likely to choose by fragrance. It doesn’t matter if it is only a small amount; or
• The citric acid used in the bath bomb is manufactured in China. It is a significant part of the product.

A Qualified Claim

Qualify: To modify a statement by the addition of some limitation or reservation.

A qualified “Made in the USA” claim is one where the claim is limited in some way (that is, “qualified”). This is an acceptable and expected practice which allows you to communicate what parts of the product ingredients and manufacture are from or carried out in the US. Examples:

• 60% US content.
• Manufactured in the USA using US and imported ingredients.
• Made in the USA with lavender essential oil from France.

Packaging

The packaging of the product does nothave to be sourced in the United States for the product to qualify as “Made in the USA.”

Proof

Purchasing an ingredient or component from a US supplier doesn’t automatically ensure that the ingredient is from the US or qualifies as US-made. Many soap and cosmetic ingredients can be purchased n the US but are unlikely to have been sourced originally from the US. The US doesn’t have any palm oil plantations, and few places where coconut oil is grown & produced. Olive oil may come from certain regions of the US, but the bulk of olive oil comes from overseas. Chemical supplies (baking soda, citric acid, emulsifiers, and lye, for example) are frequently produced overseas.

If you want to claim your product is made in the USA, it is your responsibility to have reasonable proof that the claim is valid. Documentation from your supplier, including Safety Data Sheets or Certificates of Analysis (if they contain the information), or supply chain certification could be useful.