Coronado Leather’s ‘Made in USA’ Claims

In its Google ad Coronado Leather advertises itself as a “Made in USA” brand.

This, despite acknowledging in an FAQ on its website that it doesn’t make all of its products in the United States:

We currently make about 80% of our products right here in San Diego, CA USA. What is not made in the US is handmade in our small specialty leather shop in Mexico. No products are made outside of North America.

But the FTC’s Made in USA standard doesn’t say that products advertised as “Made in USA” must be “all or virtually all” made in North America (which, by the way, is comprised of more than 20 countries in addition to the United States).

And according to origin information on individual product pages, many of the leather bags and accessories in Coronado’s “Made in USA” Bison Collection are in fact “100% Designed, Cut & Sewn” in the USA. That doesn’t sound like the products contain no – or negligible – foreign content, which is what the FTC requires for products advertised as “Made in USA.”

Scrolling down the product pages, which is not required to add items to the cart and proceed to checkout, reveals additional origin information, including that the hide used to make the products “originated in North America.”

TINA.org reached out to Coronado for comment. Check back for updates.

In the meantime, consumers should remember to do their research when they see leather products advertised as made in the USA. TINA.org has found many companies making deceptive made in the USA claims for leather products. After TINA.org filed a complaint with the FTC against one such company – Williams-Sonoma, which deceptively marketed leather furniture, among other products, as made in the USA – the FTC filed its own complaint against the e-commerce giant. And in 2020, the agency announced a $1 million settlement with the company that prohibits it from making misleading U.S.-origin claims in the future.

Find more of our coverage on made in the USA claims here.