Williams-Sonoma fined $3.175m for ‘Made in USA’ labeling violation

In a recent development, home goods retailer Williams-Sonoma has been ordered by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to pay $3.175 million in penalties for breaching an earlier agreement related to marketing products as ‘Made in USA’. The San Francisco-based company had allegedly falsely advertised several product lines, including mattress pads sold under its PBTeen brand, as being manufactured domestically when they were actually produced overseas. This violation of the 2020 FTC order requiring truthful labeling has resulted in Williams-Sonoma agreeing to a settlement that also imposes and reinforces requirements about manufacturing claims it can make going forward. The company will be required to submit annual compliance reports, as well as face a record-breaking civil penalty – the largest seen so far for any “Made in USA” case – levied by the FTC. In response to this development, Williams-Sonoma has not yet issued an official statement. Earlier in 2020, the FTC had sued the retailer accusing it of deceitful labeling on product lines from four different brands that falsely represented products as entirely or predominantly ‘Made in USA’. As a consequence at the time, Williams-Sonoma agreed to an order prohibiting such misleading claims. The latest FTC filing claimed six more products being advertised under false US manufacturing labels breached this prior arrangement; thereby violating it further.