Watchdog group calls Walmart out on Made in USA claims

Ad watchdog truthinadvertising.org (TINA.org) is holding Walmart to its promise that it would remove all deceptive Made in USA claims on its website, and it appears as though the retailer hasn't followed through.

"While Walmart is taking advantage of the July 4th holiday to host its 4th U.S. Manufacturing Summit and remind consumers of its marketing push to purchase $250 billion in American products, the world's biggest retailer is also still making deceptive Made in the USA claims over a year after it promised to clean up its act," said the group in a statement.

TINA.org had previously reported Walmart to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) after numerous misrepresentations were discovered on its website.

For example, some products labeled "Made in the USA" actually had "Made in China" indicated on the packaging.

According to TINA.org, Walmart responded to the allegations by saying these were the result of "coding errors" and blamed the suppliers. It also put the FTC inquiry to rest by assuring it would remove these claims and take measures to prevent misrepresentations in the future.

However, TINA.org now has a list of more than 100 new Made in the USA falsehoods -- products that were either wholly manufactured abroad or made here with imported parts.

"Walmart was put on notice over a year ago that it was deceiving consumers with misleading Made in the USA marketing," said TINA.org executive director Bonnie Patten. "That this problem still exists is simply unacceptable. Clearly FTC intervention is necessary at this time."