Walmart removes 'Made in the U.S.A' logo from website after origin of products questioned

Retail giant Walmart has been forced to remove "Made in the U.S.A." labels from its website, under suspicion that some of those products were made in other countries, Phil Wahba reports for Fortune.

The Federal Trade Commission, which had conducted an inquiry into Walmart, said "that it would not pursue action against Walmart because the retailer had taken voluntary steps to 'prevent consumer deception,'" Wahba writes. "Those included removing 'Made in USA' logos from product listings on its website and removing U.S. country of origin claims that appeared in product descriptions or titles. In some cases it is also making more detailed disclosures regarding the percentage of U.S. content contained in the product."

Walmart announced in 2013 intentions "to source an additional $250 billion worth of U.S-made goods over the following decade, part of a campaign to improve its reputation as a corporate citizen," Wahba writes. "The strategy also has a sound business case: a Consumer Reports survey this year found 80 percent of Americans prefer to buy Made-in-the-USA products when possible." But watchdog group Truth in Advertising "said it found more than 100 examples of items labeled with a 'Made in the U.S.A' logo on Walmart’s web site that misled consumers." A Walmart spokesman said some of the items were mislabeled because of coding errors. (Read more)