Looking to buy ‘Made in USA’ items off Amazon, Walmart? Then there’s something you’ll want to know

NewsThe report notes this is particularly concerning as Americans are specifically looking for "Made in USA" products, and are even willing to pay more for them. (Getty Images)Getty ImagesBy Claudia Dimuro | cdimuro@pennlive.comAI shopping assistants used by Amazon and Walmart can typically find false “Made in USA” product labels.However, a new study has found that both retailers aren’t leveraging this technology to crack down on such bogus claims.Published to Columbia Law School’s Center for Law and the Economy, the report states that both AI assistants — Alexa for Shopping for Amazon, Sparky for Walmart — can find obviously false “Made in USA” labels. However, the report claims that “Made in USA” fraud still runs rampant on both sites, and Amazon goes as far as to block questions about “Made in USA” products. Both companies have “reneged on specific public commitments to document and disclose how their AI tools work.” Reuters adds that when both AI bots were questioned on why Amazon and Walmart aren’t doing more to combat false labeling, both have cited business justifications. For example, Sparky’s response explained that the FTC typically enforces “Made in USA” rules — ones that dictate items must be “all or virtually all” made in the country to get such a label — not retailers.“That’s a business calculation, not a legal justification,” Sparky said. Amazon’s Alexa went so far as to say that, “the harm to U.S.-made brands is real and documented, but until that harm creates a financial, regulatory or reputational cost for Amazon specifically, it remains easier to do nothing.” This phenomenon is particularly troubling as 71 percent of Americans confirmed they’re intentionally buying American-made products, the report states. Another 65 percent said they’re willing to pay a premium price for 10 percent or more for American-made items. “If this technology is tuned to suppress a claim a claim this clean and checkable, it’s a much bigger problem for the murkier judgement calls that underlie agentic commerce — the ‘best’ product, a fair price, a trustworthy seller — where there may be no bright line to check against it,” the report states. “Further, in agentic commerce, there the platform does not just host that judgement; it renders it. “Amazon and Walmart are simultaneously the marketplace, the entity that decides what compliance looks like inside the marketplace, the personal shopper operating AI agents, and the party that takes a cut from every sale the marketplace allows, fraudulent or not.”An Amazon spokesperson informed Reuters that “country-of-origin information, when available, is currently displayed on product detail pages” and that Amazon is “continuing working to improve Alexa for Shopping to makes this information even more accessible for customers.”Walmart couldn’t be reached for comment.PayPal to shift focus to buy now, pay later servicesUpdate your iPhone: Latest iOS features key security fixesApple’s latest lawsuit involves bogus Bitcoin walletClaudia covers trending and breaking news stories across the United States. She previously worked as a digital reporter for PennLive.com, where she covered a range of topics from metal music to consumer news to...