By Hao Nguyen
Chief Legal Officer
Just last week, the FTC announced a $2 million civil penalty against Kubota North America Corporation, a popular manufacturer of heavy duty farm and construction equipment. The reason? False “made in the USA” claims. The FTC has very strict rules around this and by falsely labeling its imported replacement parts for its tractors and agricultural equipment as “Made in the USA,” Kubota paid dearly for violating the FTC Act. This penalty represents the largest to date for a violation of the “Made in USA Labeling Rule.”
How does it affect your dealership? Dealers regularly face down these kinds of issues when advertising vehicles that were (partly) assembled in the United States. Last month, we published an article titled “Navigating ‘Made in the ‘USA’ Claims in Dealership Advertising” about this exact topic and recommended to dealers on how to work with this very strict FTC rule.