Source: Blog – Alliance for American Manufacturing
Getty Images
The fourth in an occasional series of AAM policy recommendations as a new era in Washington begins.
It’s harder than it should be to connect consumers and manufacturers with American-made goods, suppliers or business opportunities in the public or private sectors.
That’s in spite of public opinion surveys that consistently show we place great value on the Made In America label. Eight in 10 (79%) respondents to a recent consumer survey said they would purchase more products that are Made in the United States if they were more widely available at large retailers.
Another 70% think the government should be doing more to bring manufacturing back to the United States.
These numbers are so high because respondents understand what supporting it means for our economy.
Purchasing American-made products supports domestic businesses and their workers. Jobs are created. Higher quality and safety standards are rewarded, and the environmental impact associated with distant supply chains is reduced.
Considering the Made In America option is as pragmatic as it is patriotic. And that’s why defining what counts as American-made is so important: Strong, enforceable standards are crucial to consumer confidence in the American-made label.
The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) standard – that “all or virtually all” of a product, including parts and processing, must be of U.S. origin – ensures that consumers aren’t duped into purchasing items containing foreign content. But this standard is under pressure from special interests who want a weaker policy that would benefit products containing inputs from foreign sources.
Congress can ensure Made In America continues to live up to its association with and embodiment of distinctly American values by codifying the FTC labeling standard into law. Congress should also be vigilant against any attempts to preempt state-level consumer protection laws without simultaneously ensuring the FTC’s standard is law because, when it comes to a national labeling standard, we can’t put the cart before the horse.
For its part, the FTC should continue to identify and penalize bad actors who fraudulently use the American-made label to deceive consumers into purchasing foreign products. But there are other steps that can be taken by Congress to empower consumers seeking to purchase these products. For instance, lawmakers should pass the Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) Online Act, which would modernize labeling laws that predate the explosion of e-commerce. The COOL Online Act would require clear disclosure of a country-of-origin label for products sold online, which would bring those products to the same standard as products sold in stores. Eight in 10 Americans (79%) believe online retailers should be required to do so.
The federal government, too, can support U.S. companies and their workers by wisely spending tax dollars on American-made products and materials. Similarly, when tax dollars are spent to develop new inventions, the government should make every effort to ensure that the resulting products are made here at home. In 2022, investigative journalism revealed a breakthrough battery technology – only made possible by federally backed research – was allowed to license offshore to a Chinese manufacturer, instead of to a private sector company in the United States. This blunder gave China a competitive edge in a burgeoning battery storage industry and displaced American production and jobs because of poor enforcement of longstanding rules.
It’s an example of many instances in which American workers and manufacturers have been sidelined as taxpayer-financed research has been commercialized elsewhere. That’s why Congress should take up and pass the Invent Here, Make Here Act, which strengthens current laws that require federally funded research inventions to be manufactured in the United States. The bill requires the Made In America Office (MIAO) at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to sign off on any waivers that would allow taxpayer-funded innovations to be manufactured outside the United States, and it prohibits waivers for any “country of concern.” This requirement already applies to funding routed through the Department of Homeland Security, but additional action is needed for all other departments to ensure that U.S. innovations are actually made here, too.
Policy Recommendations:
1. Modernize labeling laws that predate the e-commerce era by passing the COOL Online Act (S. 294). This bill requires clear disclosure of the country-of-origin labeling in a website description of a product.
2. Oppose any attempts to undermine “Made in USA” labeling standards, which consumers rely on when making purchasing decisions. Specifically, the Reinforcing American-Made Products Act (118th: S. 2930 / H.R. 5556) should not advance unless it codifies the FTC’s “all or virtually all” labeling standard into law. The bill seeks to preempt state-level consumer protection laws with the FTC standard, but because it is not codified in law it would come under immediate pressure.
3. Strengthen current laws that require federally funded research inventions to be manufactured in the United States by passing the Invent Here, Make Here Act (118th: S. 1956). The bill requires the Made In America Office (MIAO) at OMB to sign off on waivers that would allow taxpayer-funded innovations to be manufactured outside the United States and prohibits the issuance of waivers for any “country of concern.”
Read other entries in our Blueprint 2025 series here.
Full Article: Read More
