A Closer Look at White House ‘Made in America’ Celebration

Sikorsky helicopters. Gibson guitars. Campbell’s soup.

These were among the items celebrated this summer as part of a “Made in America” week put on by the White House that showcased a U.S.-made product from every state in the Union. But a TINA.org investigation has found that not all Sikorsky helicopters, not all Gibson guitars, and not all varieties of Campbell’s soup meet the legal standard for unqualified U.S.-origin claims.

But wait, there’s more.

In total, TINA.org found examples of 10 products on the White House’s “Made in America” list that are either partially or wholly made outside the U.S. This flies right in the face of the government’s own legal standard on unqualified U.S.-origin claims like “Made in America.” The FTC’s Made in the USA standard states that a product must be “all or virtually all” made here to bear such an unqualified claim. (“All or virtually all” means that all significant parts and processing are of U.S. origin and the product’s final assembly took place in the U.S. Anything less and the product must be marketed with qualifying language such as made in the U.S. with lenses from Italy.)

Here is the full list of examples:

For more on Made in the USA, click here.