Walmart’s Made in USA Claims for Aluminum Products

Over the years, TINA.org has repeatedly grilled Walmart about its false and deceptive Made in USA marketing. Now, just in time for the Fourth of July, the mega-retailer is being sued for allegedly falsely advertising aluminum products, including grilling accessories, as “Made in the USA.”

The class-action lawsuit filed last month claims that there is “no way to manufacture aluminum for consumer foil, bakeware, or grilling pans and liners except with bauxite,” a mineral that is extracted from the ground.

Almost no bauxite is mined in the USA. The overwhelming majority of the material is mined and significantly processed internationally, then imported from overseas and used to create the products.

Yet this has not stopped Walmart from marketing aluminum products sold under its private label brands Mainstays and Expert Grill as “Made in the USA,” according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit cites violations of the FTC’s Made in USA Labeling Rule, which prohibits products from being marketed as “Made in the USA” unless “all or virtually all” of the product is made in the USA, meaning all significant processing that goes into the product occurs in the U.S., all or virtually all ingredients or components of the product are made and sourced in the U.S., and the product’s final assembly or processing takes place in the U.S. The FTC enacted the labeling rule in 2021 following TINA.org’s petition for rulemaking.

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

Find more of our coverage on Made in USA claims here.