By Patrick Coffee

A rising number of lawsuits accuse household brands of misleading consumers when they said their products were made in the United States.

Thirteen proposed class-action suits over "Made in U.S.A." claims have been filed so far this year, compared with seven in 2024 as a whole, according to consumer advocacy group Truth in Advertising. It's already the largest annual case total since at least 2011, the first year tracked by the group.

The litigation is being driven largely by one law firm that saw President Trump's re-election as a green light.

"One of the platforms the administration was running on was how important American-made things are," said Abbas Kazerounian, founding partner at Kazerouni Law Group of Costa Mesa, Calif., which filed 10 of this year's new made-in-America lawsuits, up from one last year. "So the American public has out and out said, 'This is something that's important to us.' "

The firm's complaints allege that popular brands took advantage of that sentiment to improperly attract sales or justify higher prices. Defendants include Goya Foods, Procter & Gamble's Mielle Organics hair care, Pure Leaf Teas from PepsiCo and Unilever, French's Mustard maker McCormick and Co., and men's toiletries brand Dude Wipes.

Dude Wipes is confident that Kazerouni's case will be dismissed because the company now labels its products "Assembled in the U.S.A.," reflecting the international origin of some components, a spokesman said. The other defendants sued by the firm declined to comment or didn't respond to inquiries.

The firm placed ads to find plaintiffs who had purchased the companies' products, and attracted others through its history litigating cases focused on product labeling, Kazerounian said. It is handling the cases on a contingency basis, meaning that its compensation will come from any damages or settlements that result.

Kazerouni's lone "Made in America" class action last year resulted in a settlement with haircare brand Olaplex. Under the proposed terms, Olaplex won't admit wrongdoing but will send $5 vouchers to class members who submitted claims. It also agreed to pay $1.35 million for various costs and fees, of which Kazerouni is requesting $1.05 million and the plaintiff will get $5,000.

Other firms are also finding success with "Made in America" suits.

A jury in April awarded $2.36 million to class action plaintiffs after finding that R.C. Bigelow, maker of popular Bigelow Teas, had inaccurately labeled its products "Manufactured in the USA." The plaintiffs have requested attorneys' fees of nearly $4.7 million.

R.C. Bigelow never intended to imply that its tea leaves were grown in the U.S. and removed the manufacturing claim from packaging several years ago, President and CEO Cindi Bigelow said in a statement.

Plaintiffs don't always win. A class-action suit filed against Handi-Foil aluminum products was dismissed last year after a judge ruled the plaintiff hadn't shown that the imported elements comprised 10% or more of the products' value, the standard under California's labeling laws.

Aluminum cookware maker Nordic Ware, which in April was sued for false advertising in a case that doesn't involve Kazerouni, said the suit against it has no merit. The core element of aluminum is no longer mined in the U.S., Nordic Ware said in a statement, and the company is legally required to label its products as U.S.-made in order to export them.

"We will vigorously defend our position on this and remain proud to manufacture our products in the U.S.A., employing American workers and using aluminum sourced from U.S. mills," the company said.

But only 5 of the 80 "Made in America" class actions tracked by Truth in Advertising since 2011 were dismissed, and no juries found for defendants, the group said.

Some companies have quickly amended recent ads to avoid legal risk.

Stellantis, maker of Jeep and Ram vehicles, in April responded to a letter from Truth in Advertising by revising a new ad campaign to avoid saying its vehicles are "built" in America, because they contain imported parts.

Enforcing "Made in America" standards is necessary to protect consumers, according to Steven Kent, media director of free market advocacy group Consumer Choice Center. But some of the focus on terms like "built," "assembled" and "manufactured" puts too much stock in choosing among words with similar and overlapping meanings, he said.

"It gets into PR and marketing word games," Kent said.

Law firms will continue to file suits that hinge on such descriptions of companies' supply chains, however, unless updated regulations or adverse rulings make them harder for plaintiffs to win, said Rob Freund, a lawyer focused on advertising law.

Kazerouni Law Group, whose 20-plus lawyers around the country handle a range of case types , plans to file more made-in America lawsuits in the coming months, Kazerounian said.

These cases are often dismissed as "liberal, hippy-dippy kind of lawsuits," but should be taken seriously by consumers, particularly conservatives who value free-market competition and domestic manufacturing, said Kazerounian, who declined to discuss his political affiliation.

"I think it's important to educate the public, and the businesses for that matter, who are more sophisticated than consumers generally, on why these cases are important," he said.

Write to Patrick Coffee at patrick.coffee@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 04, 2025 06:00 ET (10:00 GMT)

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