What exactly does "Made in the USA" mean?

Manufacturers and retailers love to tout their products as “Made in the USA,” but what does this mean in the ever increasing global marketplace?

Many would be surprised to know that the USA is still number one in manufacturing, but what many of these businesses actually do is more like assembly, not manufacturing, since most of the parts and packaging materials are from overseas.

The FTC defines the “Made in the USA” label as a product that is at least 97% assembled in the USA from USA made parts. This label is continually growing harder to attain as more parts manfacturers move overseas. The FTC has been unwilling to bend this definition, causing many long declarations on packaging such as “Made in the USA from foreign parts” or “Assembled in the USA from USA and Mexican made parts,” since even one foreign part will ruin the “Made in the USA” status. The FTC has also taken action against the use of the American flag and other symbols saying that they suggest the product is “Made in the USA.”

The lack of an ability to market a product using the “Made in the USA” label could be causing many manufacturers who would consider building factories in the US to reconsider. Perhaps the FTC could devise another classification that would foster the creation of more American factory jobs by allowing companies to market their “Mostly made in the USA” products as American made.

An in-depth article on this subject by Michael Baroni enititled “'Made in the USA'?” appeared in The National Law Journal.