Overview
- President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order on March 13 directing the FTC to prioritize cases involving deceptive American-origin advertising.
- The FTC is instructed to consider proposed rules that treat an online marketplace’s failure to verify country-of-origin claims as an unfair or deceptive practice.
- Agencies overseeing government-wide contracts must periodically vet origin claims on products sold to the federal government and remove misrepresented items.
- Contractors found to misstate U.S. origin for federal sales are to be referred to the Department of Justice for potential False Claims Act action.
- Agencies, in consultation with the FTC, are to explore consistent guidance for voluntary country-of-origin labeling, with implementation subject to law and available appropriations.