Home products retailer Williams-Sonoma will have to pay almost $3.2 million penalty for violating a Federal Trade Commission “Made in USA” order.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/14804431

Home products retailer Williams-Sonoma will have to pay almost $3.2 million for violating a Federal Trade Commission “Made in USA” order.

Williams-Sonoma was charged with advertising multiple products as being “Made in USA” when they were in fact manufactured in other countries, including China. That violated a 2020 commission order requiring the San Francisco-based company to be truthful about whether its products were in fact made in the U.S.

The FTC said Friday that Williams-Sonoma has agreed to a settlement, which includes a $3.175 million civil penalty. That marks the largest-ever civil penalty seen in a “Made in USA” case, the commission said.

“Williams-Sonoma’s deception misled consumers and harmed honest American businesses,” FTC Chair Lina M. Khan said. “Today’s record-setting civil penalty makes clear that firms committing Made-in-USA fraud will not get a free pass.”

In addition to paying the penalty, the seller of cookware and home furnishings will be required to submit annual compliance reports, the FTC said. The settlement also imposes and reinforces a number of requirements about manufacturing claims the company can make.

  • jordanlund@lemmy.worldOPMEnglish
    4·
    8 months ago

    The weird thing is that they make a lot of money correctly sourcing country of origin when that product and country is known for quality.

    Le Creuset cast iron being made in France for example. I inherited my first piece from my grandmother, she bought it in the 1950s and it’s STILL usable. It’s an heirloom piece. It outlived her and will likely outlive me.

    But China, Thailand, etc.? Known for “cheap”, not “quality”. Which is odd considering W-S prices.

    • Ptsf@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      8 months ago

      There’s a lot of reputable Chinese firms that lead in their field of manufacturing and production, often producing things that just couldn’t be made elsewhere. It’s a quite big country afterall.