New Balance ‘Made in USA’ Labels Under Investigation

Persons in California who bought shoes with New Balance ‘Made in USA’ labels may now qualify to join a false advertising class action lawsuit investigation.

Dozens of models of New Balance men’s and women’s shoes have been sold in California bearing New Balance ‘Made in USA’ labels.

However, these shoes may actually contain a significant amount of components that were sourced outside the U.S.

The result could give purchasers grounds to participate in a false advertising class action lawsuit. Purchasers could have reasonably relied on these New Balance ‘Made in USA’ labels as meaning the shoes contain no foreign components whatsoever.

California’s ‘Made in USA’ Labeling Laws

There are legal guidelines and requirements at the state and federal levels that govern things like New Balance ‘Made in USA’ labels. Much of these guidelines now leave wiggle room for manufacturers who want to take advantage of ‘Made in USA’ labeling

At the federal level, the Federal Trade Commission says that a product that is ‘all or virtually all’ made in the United States can bear a ‘Made in USA’ label, as long as “all significant parts and processing that go into the product [are] of U.S. origin” and the product contains “no – or negligible – foreign content.”

For many years, California law imposed strict requirements on ‘Made in USA’ labels, even stricter than those imposed by federal rules.

The state’s law previously forbade labeling a product as ‘Made in USA’ if any ‘article, unit, or part thereof’ had been ‘made, manufactured, or produced outside of the United States.’

Under that older standard, consumers were in a position to bring a false advertising lawsuit against manufacturers and marketers if any product labeled ‘Made in USA’ contained a single component that was actually made abroad.

In a precedential case, the California supreme court held that the presence of a single foreign-made element in such a product could give a plaintiff standing to sue under the state’s Unfair Competition Law and False Advertising Law.

But in September 2015, California labeling requirements got much more business-friendly. Under the new standard, a product can be labeled as ‘Made in USA’ if it contains foreign-made components that account for no more than five percent of the final wholesale value of the finished product.

Investigation Delves into New Balance ‘Made in USA’ Labels

As the California supreme court has noted, ‘labels matter.’ Some purchasers have a significant preference for domestically-made goods. They may have greater confidence in the quality of U.S.-made goods, or they may prefer to support domestic industries.

The presence of New Balance ‘Made in USA’ labels can be a significant factor in these purchasers’ choice of shoes. But if the shoes in question actually contain foreign-sourced components, they may not be what the purchaser reasonably believed they were buying.

Tracking the sources of individual product components can be complex. So can negotiating recent changes in the law and the broad language that applies. A consultation with a knowledgeable false advertising attorney can give a New Balance shoe purchaser a basic understanding of their legal options.

Join a Free New Balance ‘Made in the USA’ Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you purchased one or more New Balance shoes in California in the past two years based, in part, on a “Made in the USA” label, you may be able to seek compensation by joining a class action lawsuit investigation.

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