In a closing letter issued earlier last week, the Federal Trade Commission told Prodeco Technologies, a manufacturer of electric bikes, that that the FTC thought that the company's "Built in the USA" claims were deceptive.
The FTC said that it was improper for the company to make a "Built in the USA" claim, even though its bikes were designed and assembled in the United States, where there was significant imported content.
The FTC also indicated that Prodeco had taken remedial action to prevent misleading "Built in the USA" claims in the future, including:
- Changing claims to "Built in the USA of Global Components";
- Updating its website, including title tags and meta descriptions;
- Revising social media posts to remove "#builtinusa" from posts;
- Terminating dealers who failed to update marketing materials after three requests; and
- Updating dealer contracts.
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"the product should contain, at most, only negligible foreign content"
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