Walmart

February

Following TINA.org’s complaint to the FTC, Walmart quietly removes a link on its website to “Find American-Made Products on Walmart.com” that led to nearly 2,000 “made in usa” listings and replaces it with a link to a company blog published in 2019 about a woman who found work at a U.S. factory.

January 19

After finding that Walmart is still advertising products as Made in the USA when they contain imported parts, TINA.org sends a new complaint to the FTC urging it to reopen its investigation and take appropriate enforcement action.

Walmart changes its Made in USA Origin Disclaimer present on every product page. The disclaimer on each page is now more general and states: “While we aim to provide accurate product information, it is provided by manufacturers, suppliers and others, and has not been verified by us.  See our disclaimer.”  The sentence then links to a pop-up, which states, in relevant part: “Product packaging and material may contain more and/or different information from the website, including the product description, country of origin, nutrition, ingredient, allergen and other information. Always read labels, warnings, and directions and other information provided with the product before using or consuming a product. For additional information about a product, please contact the manufacturer.”

June 28

After reinvestigating Walmart.com and finding that it still contains Made in the USA misrepresentations (despite Walmart’s numerous assurances that it had fully corrected the issue last year), TINA.org sends a complaint letter to FTC.

November 12

TINA.org sends a letter to the FTC regarding Walmart.com’s ineffective Made in the USA disclaimer.

October 23

A review of Walmart’s website by TINA.org reveals that, despite the company’s removal of the vast majority of false and deceptive Made in the USA claims, some misrepresentations still exist, prompting TINA.org to alert the company, as well as the FTC.

October 20

The FTC — which investigated Walmart after receiving TINA.org’s complaint — notifies the company that it will not be pursuing further action due to Walmart’s assurance that it has removed all U.S.-origin representations from its website.

July 14

Due to Walmart’s failure to fully correct the false and deceptive Made in the USA representations on its website, TINA.org sends a complaint letter to the FTC urging it to take action against the company.

June 25

Walmart informs TINA.org that the USA misrepresentations on the company’s website will be corrected within two weeks.

June 24

Walmart’s Vice President of U.S. Sourcing sends a letter to TINA.org stating, among other things, that the company is taking steps to ensure that the misrepresentations are corrected and that it is also “undertaking a more extensive quality assurance review to eliminate these kinds of coding errors in the future.”

June 22

TINA.org sends a warning letter to Walmart’s CEO, General Counsel, and Chief Marketing Officer, alerting them to the issues uncovered by TINA.org’s investigation and requesting that the company confirm in writing by June 26, 2015 that Walmart intends to remove from its website all false and deceptive USA representations.