Home products retailer Williams-Sonoma will have to pay almost $3.2 million for violating a Federal Trade Commission “Made in USA” order.
Williams-Sonoma was charged with advertising multiple products as being “Made in USA” when they were in fact manufactured in other countries, including China. That violated a 2020 commission order requiring the San Francisco-based company to be truthful about whether its products were in fact made in the U.S.
The FTC said Friday that Williams-Sonoma has agreed to a settlement, which includes a $3.175 million civil penalty. That marks the largest-ever civil penalty seen in a “Made in USA” case, the commission said.
“Williams-Sonoma’s deception misled consumers and harmed honest American businesses,” FTC Chair Lina M. Khan said. “Today’s record-setting civil penalty makes clear that firms committing Made-in-USA fraud will not get a free pass.”
In addition to paying the penalty, the seller of cookware and home furnishings will be required to submit annual compliance reports, the FTC said. The settlement also imposes and reinforces a number of requirements about manufacturing claims the company can make.
Used in the context you claim, it’s even more of an idiotic thing to say.
The company is being fined. It’s a real penalty. Since we don’t know how much product was sold, we don’t how punitive it is but damn, when the government gets a win you take it.
The fine is inconsequential to the profit they made from lying. If stealing $10,000 from a bank was only punishable by a $500, it would be foolish not to rob the bank since you will make $9,500 in profit, writing the $500 off as an expense alongside gas money and the gun used used to hold up the teller.
Williams & Sinoma made over $7billion in profits last year. This fine is absolutely inconsequential to them and will do nothing to discourage doing it again since the punishment is trivial to the reward.