The FTC closed the probe without action after Wal-Mart dropped all “Made in USA” logos from products on its website, the FTC said in a letter to the company that was posted on the agency’s website. Fortune first reported on the letter.
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Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, has been forced to remove the “Made in USA” logo from its website, after it was discovered that products were falsely claiming to have been manufactured in the USA.
The issue was actually raised by ad watchdog group truthinadvertising.org (TINA.org) when it found that there were several products on Walmart’s site that have been labeled “Made in the USA” while the packaging showed “Made in China”.
The FTC began the investigation into Walmart’s product labelling in June after Truth in Advertising, a consumer regulator, informed the FTC that product descriptions on over 200 items were unreliable.
The FTC launched a probe after the group released its findings. In fact, Walmart had since, removed the Made in US logos from all of its product listings while also removing the country-of-origin information and U.S.-origin claims.
The move was described in a letter sent by FTC staff attorney Julia Solomon Ensor to Annemarie O’Shea, associate general counsel for Walmart Global E-commerce, which appeared on the FTC’s website. But the company sounds pretty happy with the FTC decision now.
This is a big blow to the company’s image as an American workers-focused corporation, which it has been trying to bolster amid criticisms over its reputation as a responsible corporate citizen. “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”.
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The problem arose as Wal-Mart sought to fulfill a pledge made in 2013 to buy an extra $250 billion in U.S.-made goods over a decade to support USA manufacturing jobs.
