FTC: Made In The USA Comments Concerning Carl Levin--P894219 CARL LEVIN United States
Senate June 26, 1997 Ms. Beth Grossman Dear Ms. Grossman: Please accept the attached press release stating my opposition to the now FTC proposal on “Made in USA” standards as my official public comment on this subject, as you discussed with my staff. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Carl LevinCarl Levin CL/amp FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Kathleen McShea, May 5, 1997 Levin Speaks Out Against Now FTC Proposal an "Made In USA” Standards WASHINGTON -- Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., issued the following statement upon learning about the proposed now guidelines on labeling products "Made in the USA". I oppose the now FTC-proposed guidelines for the use of "Made in USA"claims which serve to effectively water down what that term means to American consumers. The FTC is saying that if U.S. manufacturing costs constitute at least 75 percent of the total manufacturing costs for a product, and the product was last substantially transformed in the United States, then a company may claim that the product is unqualifiedly "Made in the USA". The unqualified "Made in the USA" label should be reserved to products that are wholly or virtually all made here -- not 75 percent made here. A company that does not actually produce all or virtually all of its product in the United States should not be able to benefit from the preference many consumers have for American-made products. This benefit should continue to be reserved for products made with American components made by American workers. It would be a mistake to alter the current standard. We should not turn this valuable label into one that really means "mostly made in the USA" I am surprised that the FTC has chosen to overturn fifty years of experience under the existing standard of requiring that "all or virtually all" of a product must be made in America in order for it to legitimately use the "Made in the USA" label. I think these now guidelines, if they become final, will work to the detriment of American workers and American consumers. I hope that people will take the opportunity of the public comment period to make their concerns known to the FTC. NOTE: Comments on the guidelines will be placed on the public record and on the Internet at the FTC's World Wide Web Site. They are due by August 11, 1997 and should be identified as "Made in USA Policy Comment," and addressed to the Office of the Secretary, Federal Trade Commission, Room 159, Sixth and Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, D. C. 20580 |