WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) a member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, on Thursday criticized a decision by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to let companies that falsely labeled foreign products as “Made in the USA” off the hook and not press any substantive charges. 

The companies under investigation include Patriot Puck, which falsely advertised their hockey pucks as American-made, and Sandpiper and PiperGear, which falsely advertised their backpacks, travel bags, and wallets as American-made. 

“This is a bad decision. These companies knowingly lied about their products being made in America. The ‘Made in the USA’ label should mean something, but by letting these companies off with just a slap on the wrist, the Republican commissioners gave a green light for other companies to similarly cheat the system,” said Murphy. “President Trump says he wants to support ‘Buy American’ policies. This would have been a good chance to hold cheating companies accountable and protect U.S. manufacturing jobs, but instead the FTC chose the opposite. I’ll keep working with Senators Brown and Baldwin to strengthen our enforcement and transparency around Buy American policies and protect American manufacturing jobs.” 

Murphy, along with U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), submitted public comment during the case, urging the FTC to fully enforce its “Made in the USA” labeling standards and to consider monetary penalties as well as admission of guilt settlements for the violating companies. Murphy said mislabeling products not only misleads consumers but also disadvantages American businesses. 

In order to protect and grow manufacturing jobs in Connecticut, Murphy has introduced two pieces of legislation that aim to strengthen existing standards and prioritize the purchase of American-made goods, the BuyAmerican.gov Act and the American Jobs Matter Act.

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