Consumers deserve the chance to buy safe, American-made products

OPINION:

After two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s clear that Americans have experienced a sea change in their views toward China. Polls show that consumers have become more interested in buying American-made products — and 40% of them will no longer buy anything made in China. Particularly striking is the fact that nearly 80% of consumers would be willing to pay more to see production move from China back to the United States.

Clearly, Americans want to buy products stamped “Made in America.” But what about the goods they buy online? When shopping on the internet, consumers may find themselves uncertain of a product’s safety, or whether it’s even made in the U.S. And that’s a problem since unreliable manufacturers — particularly in China — have a long track record of producing shoddy and unsafe goods.

Washington is finally tackling the problem, though. Last year, a Senate committee approved a bill by Sens. Democrat Tammy Baldwin and Republican Rick Scott requiring prominent country-of-origin labeling for any product sold online. Their legislation could help consumers find American-made options when shopping on the internet — and avoid buying goods from countries where unsafe production has been an issue.

The legislation proposed by Ms. Baldwin and Mr. Scott would also mandate a clear disclosure of the country in which the seller of a product is located. The seller’s location matters, too, since counterfeit and knockoff goods have become a rampant problem in mainland China.

Earlier this month, the House passed the America COMPETES Act of 2022 — legislation intended to boost U.S. competitiveness in the face of China’s aggressive trade practices. Helpfully, the bill also includes the country-of-origin labeling originally advanced by Ms. Baldwin and Mr. Scott. Congress is now working to merge the House bill with similar China legislation that passed the Senate last year.

However, China remains a thorny issue in Congress, and a well-financed import lobby is looking to water down the legislation. Last year’s Senate bill already contained several flaws, including language that would limit the application of certain U.S. tariffs. Advocates for U.S. manufacturing remain concerned that parts of the Senate’s flawed bill could make it into the eventual, compromise legislation.

However, legislation requiring country-of-origin labeling for e-commerce should be a no-brainer, especially when questionable online sales are becoming more common. A 2019 investigation found 10,870 items for sale on Amazon that had been declared unsafe by federal agencies, were labeled deceptively, lacked federally-required warnings, or were banned by federal regulators. This included many items that big-box retailers would normally bar from their shelves. And of the 1,934 sellers whose addresses could be determined, 54% were based in China.

This type of unsafe e-commerce is now becoming more widespread. The family of a Missouri man killed in a motorcycle accident sued Amazon for a fraudulently labeled helmet purchased online. And a Georgia man sued Amazon for a hoverboard that caught fire and burned his home. Such problems are increasing, though, and it’s estimated that multiple new product listings are uploaded to Amazon from China every second.

More and more Americans have turned to online shopping in the wake of the COVID-19 lockdown. They need to be certain that the medicines, electronics, toys and household items they buy online are safe. Country-of-origin labeling for e-commerce represents an important step toward reclaiming the safety of internet shopping. 

Consumers deserve the chance to buy safe, American-made options. And so, as Congress looks to negotiate a compromise China bill between the House and Senate, lawmakers should make certain to include the country-of-origin labeling provisions introduced by Ms. Baldwin and Mr. Scott.

• Michael Stumo is CEO of the Coalition for a Prosperous America. Follow him at @michael_stumo.