What factors does the Commission consider to determine
whether a product is “all or virtually all” made in the
U.S.?
The product’s final assembly or processing must take place in
the U.S. The Commission then considers other factors,
including how much of the product’s total manufacturing
costs can be assigned to U.S. parts and processing, and how
far removed any foreign content is from the finished product.
In some instances, only a small portion of the total manufacturing
costs are attributable to foreign processing, but that
processing represents a significant amount of the product’s
overall processing. The same could be true for some foreign
parts. In these cases, the foreign content (processing or parts)
is more than negligible, and, as a result, unqualified claims
are inappropriate.
Example: A company produces propane barbecue
grills at a plant in Nevada. The product’s major
components include the gas valve, burner and
aluminum housing, each of which is made in the
U.S. The grill’s knobs and tubing are imported
from Mexico. An unqualified Made in USA claim
is not likely to be deceptive because the knobs and
tubing make up a negligible portion of the product’s
total manufacturing costs and are insignificant
parts of the final product.