FTC: Made In The USA Comments Concerning Richard I. Bonsal--P894219 JOSHUA L. BAILY & CO., INC.
ATLANTA · CHICAGO RICHARD I. BONSAL May 16, 1997 Made in the USA Policy Comment Dear Mr. Secretary: The proposed FTC guideline to permit products with 25% U.S. content to be labeled "Made in the USA" is an egregious breach of the public trust because it will deceive the public. Furthermore, it violates the FTC's mission to protect consumers from such misrepresentation. Foreign workers should not be given legal sanction to market their work-product in the U.S. under false pretenses. Integrity demands that the label "Made in the USA" be a guarantee to consumers that the product was 100% U.S. made by U.S. workers in the U.S. who pay U.S. taxes on U.S. wages to support U.S. functions, such as national security and entitlements to U.S. people. Labels should be truthful. For example, the FDA wouldn't permit food and drink containers to disclose just one selected ingredient and omit all of the others. Why then, should the FTC do so as to foreign content? If this is the best we can expect from the FTC, Congress should abolish the FTC. Furthermore, the Congress should amend the misnamed Buy American Act -- which should be called the "Buy 49% Foreign Act". The Buy American Act, by its name alone, surreptitiously masks the decreased standard-of-living suffered by U.S. workers who are displaced by foreign workers. I urge you to withdraw your proposed 25% guideline at once and seek to have the Buy American Act amended to require 100% U.S. content, so that consumers can have confidence that the label, "Made in the USA", means what it says. Very truly yours, Richard I. BonsalRIB/gl cc:Senators Lautenberg, Torricelli and Thurmond FAX (201) 656-4912 or 4927 |