A US clothing company was fined 210,000 yuan for "randomly changing labels"! Another lesson for cross-border people

It is learned that recently, the American clothing company "LionsNotSheep" and its owner Whalen were fined US$211,335 by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for replacing the "Made in China" logo with the "Made in the USA" logo.

According to reports, "LionsNotSheep" is a company that advocates support for Trump, gun ownership, and opposition to Biden, and is popular among conservatives in the United States. Many of the company's products use the red, white and blue colors of the American flag, and they send a free copy of the U.S. Constitution with every order.

The above issues may not be relevant, but the company's move to replace the "Made in China" logo with the "Made in the USA" logo has indeed stepped on a minefield.

Not only did the FTC fine the company $211,335, it also ordered it to stop using false Made in the USA labels that indicate the true country of origin.

Under the order, use of the Made in the USA label requires certification that final assembly or processing of the product and all significant processing takes place in the United States and that all or substantially all of the product's ingredients or components are manufactured and sourced in the United States.

However, according to the company's website, its raw materials are often sourced from manufacturers in China, Colombia and Bangladesh, the all-white garments are shipped to facilities in the United States for printing, embroidery and labeling, and the finished products are then shipped to LionsNotSheep headquarters in Utah. This does not constitute a sufficient condition for a "Made in the USA" label.

According to the FTC’s complaint, Whalen also posted a video on social media claiming he could “make the product look great by removing the country of origin label and replacing it with a ‘Made in the USA’ label.”

This also reminds cross-border sellers that products made in the local country of origin may be more popular with consumers, but this does not mean that sellers can replace them at will. Inaccurate labels can easily lead to minefields.

Editor✎ Ashley/

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