Today, U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Rick Scott (R-FL) are calling on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate Amazon and Walmart for hiding Made in America products from customers on their websites and apps and failing to monitor and report Made in America labeling fraud, undermining American businesses and workers.
The Senators’ ask follows a recent report that found the companies’ AI shopping chatbots, Alexa for Amazon and Sparky for Walmart, do not show customers items that are Made in the USA when they are searching for them, despite the chatbots being fully capable of finding those products in their inventory. The report also showed that Amazon and Walmart failed to report fraudulently labeled Made in the USA products, despite their ability to detect this fraud. Specifically, the lawmakers are calling on the FTC to investigate Amazon and Walmart’s use of their AI shopping tools and increase enforcement against false Made in the USA claims.
“We all share the goal of strengthening American manufacturing and small businesses through initiatives such as Made in USA labeling, all while ensuring consumers receive accurate information about where the products they buy are made,” wrote Baldwin and Scott. “Following a robust investigation, we strongly encourage the Commission to consider additional enforcement measures to deter such behavior going forward.”
“As two of the largest retail companies in the world, Amazon and Walmart’s potential noncompliance with federal standards and their explicit promotion of overseas and potentially fraudulent sellers on their online marketplaces and through their AI shopping chatbots is deeply concerning,” continued the lawmakers. “American manufacturers who adhere to these standards and support other domestic suppliers deserve a fair playing field on these online marketplaces. Likewise, consumers who seek out Made in the USA products should be able to rely on accurate country-of-origin information when making purchasing decisions. New technologies such as AI shopping chatbots must preserve that fairness.”
“We strongly urge the Commission to investigate potential suppression of Made in the USA products through these chatbots and online marketplaces, as well as the lack of monitoring and reporting of fraudulent Made in the USA labeling despite the technological capability to do so. We stand ready to work with the Commission to ensure that American manufacturers and consumers can rely on the integrity of the Made in the USA label,” the lawmakers concluded.
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