CTA Urges FTC to Go Slow on Imposing MUSA Label Rules

CTA has “a keen interest” in keeping the market free of deceptive Made in the USA (MUSA) marketing claims “about any aspect of the products and services that consumers use," it commented, posted Tuesday in docket FTC-2020-0056. A rule barring deceptive MUSA labels without first reassessing “consumer perception evidence is to put the cart before the horse,” said the association. A July 16 NPRM proposed prohibiting marketers from using “unqualified” MUSA labels unless a product’s final assembly or “significant” processing occurs in the U.S., plus “all or virtually all” components are sourced domestically. The FTC hasn’t done a comprehensive consumer perception study since the 1990s, and “forging ahead” with the rules without new research “raises an impossible situation for many U.S. manufacturers,” said CTA: Some components, “at least in the short term, can only be made internationally,” it said. The rule also would be “counterproductive” for promoting and expanding American manufacturing.