FWD: [RP] 'Made in USA' Debate Deadline Nears

[MDOLAN <mdolan@citizen.org>]

  >                   'Made in USA' Debate Deadline Nears
  >
  > (August 8, 2:39 pm)
  >
  > WASHINGTON (AP) - Time is running out for Americans who want to tell
  > the Federal Trade Commission whether products labeled "Made in USA"
  > should be allowed to contain some foreign parts.
  >
  > Monday is the commission's deadline for accepting comments on its
  > proposal to let products with non-American components qualify for that
  > label - a suggested change that has drawn fire on Capitol Hill.
  >
  > "'Made in USA' should mean 'made in USA,"' said Rep. Sherrod Brown,
  > D-Ohio. "People want to know that those labels are accurate."
  >
  > Brown on Friday delivered to the FTC a stack of petitions signed by
  > 8,000 people opposing any change.
  >
  > In announcing its proposal earlier this year, the commission said it
  > wanted to make sure that American manufacturers had enough flexibility
  > to compete globally but also wanted to ensure consumers were not
  > deceived by "Made in USA" labels.
  >
  > Under current rules, companies cannot make that claim if a product has
  > more than a minute amount of foreign content.
  >
  > The proposed changes would allow a product to be called "Made in USA"
  > if U.S. manufacturing costs constitute at least 75 percent of the
  > total manufacturing costs and if the product was assembled in the
  > United States.
  >
  > The FTC also proposed allowing labels that give more information about
  > products of mixed origin, such as "U.S. Content: 60"' or "Made in USA
  > of U.S. and imported parts."
  >
  > The proposed guidelines do not cover automobiles, wool, fur or
  > textiles.
  >
  > The Rubber and Plastic Footware Manufacturers Association said it
  > favored a 70 percent-American level.
  >
  > "In order to survive as a domestic industry in competition with
  > low-wage foreign producers, it is essential to import one or more
  > components," that group wrote. "The 75 percent figure is
  > unrealistically high."
  >
  > Attorneys general of Connecticut, California, Florida, Iowa, Illinois,
  > Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, New Jersey, Nevada, New York,
  > Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Washington and Wisconsin
  > jointly asked that the "Made in USA" label be allowed only on products
  > with at least 90 percent U.S. content.
  >
  > "Any lower standard would unreasonably dilute this long-standing
  > symbol of American pride and craftsmanship," they wrote.
  >
  > Organized labor weighed in on the side of no change.
  >
  > Furniture workers' representatives said that giving more leeway to
  > manufacturers would "perpetuate a fraud on the American public and
  > open even wider the door to U.S. jobs being moved overseas."
  >
  >
  
  ***** NOTES from MDOLAN (MDOLAN @ CITIZEN) at 8/10/97 4:59 PM
  
  
  ****************************************************************************
   /s/ Mike Dolan, Field Director, Global Trade Watch, Public Citizen
  
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