A couple of years ago, Walmart began a high profile campaign to bring back American manufacturing jobs. While the chain has gotten a lot of credit for its efforts, it took some heat this past summer when it was discovered that some items on its website were tagged with "Made in the U.S.A." logos when they were actually made in other countries. At the time, Walmart blamed the issue on coding errors and said it was taking steps to correct the issue. Now, according to reports, Walmart has removed all the logos following an investigation into the matter by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
A letter to the retailer from a staff attorney at the FTC says the agency will not pursue its investigation into whether Walmart was misleading consumers because of actions taken by the retailer. In addition to taking the logos off its site, the company has also agreed to remove:
- Country-of-origin information from product specs, except where required by law
- Claims of U.S. origin claims in product descriptions and titles
Source: corporate.walmart.com
Walmart has also implemented a procedure to identify and remove claims of U.S. origins in ad copy submitted by vendors.
"We are pleased with the FTC's decision and appreciate its thorough review of our program," said Kory Lundberg, a Walmart spokesperson, in a statement (via Business Insider). "We're committed to reviewing and strengthening our processes to help ensure customers have a great experience on our website and can find the products and information they are looking for."
- Walmart removes "Made in USA" logos from website after government inquiry - Fortune
- Walmart suddenly removed 'Made in USA' labels from its website - Business Insider
- Walmart quietly dropped some of its aggressive 'made in America' labeling - Fusion
- Letter to Associate General Counsel Walmart Global E-commerce - Federal Trade Commission
- Will Walmart spark a reshoring movement? - RetailWire
- Walmart continues 'Made in the USA' push - RetailWire