FTC: Made In The USA Comments Concerning Elco Textron Inc.--P894219 ELCO TEXTRON Robert H. Rothkopf August 14, 1997 Mr. Donald Clark Re: "Made in USA" Labeling Dear Mr. Clark: We are suppliers of cold headed products to the domestic hand tool industry which makes hand tools from scratch in the United States. The FTC has proposed guidelines which would change the definition of the "Made in USA" label and we think this is unfair to American workers and misleading to American consumers. The "Made in USA" label is second only to price in a consumer's decision to purchase a hand tool. It is well known that a hand tool marked "Made in USA" is a quality product. And that is why some hand tool manufacturers want to stamp their tools "Made in USA" even though their products are not wholly American made. Some of these companies are trying to convince your agency to change the definition from all or virtually all made in the USA to one that would allow products with 25% or more foreign content to be labeled "Made in USA". We oppose this type of action and urge your agency to rescind the current movement to do so. "Made in USA" should be a label that is truthful and that truly represents the work of American workers. We urge you to reconsider moving forward with any plans to lower the standards as they currently stand for the "Made in USA" label. Sincerely, Robert H. Rothkopf Industrial Products Group |