Walmart and Amazon Face FTC Investigation Over 'Made in USA' Claims
Two US senators have asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate Walmart and Amazon over their 'Made in USA' claims. Senators Tammy Baldwin and Rick Scott sent a letter to the FTC, citing a study by Columbia University's Center for Law and Economy that found Sparky and Alexa AI shopping chatbots often misidentify foreign-made products as being made in the US.
The study found that Walmart and Amazon have the technical capability to detect and flag 'Made in USA' fraud but don't use it. Instead, when asked about a product's country of origin, Alexa will block answers or provide misleading information. This allows third-party sellers on the platform to falsely claim their merchandise was made in the US.
Last year, the FTC wrote to both companies about third-party sellers violating its 2021 'Made in USA' labeling rule by claiming their products were made in the US when they weren't.