Guide

FTC Made in USA, Endorsement Guides and influencer disclosure

The FTC's marketing-side enforcement is the single most active US consumer-protection regime for product brands. Three rules dominate: the Made in USA Labeling Rule (16 CFR Part 323, effective August 2021) which made the 'all or virtually all' standard enforceable with civil penalties up to $51,744 per violation; the revised Endorsement Guides (16 CFR Part 255, last updated 2023) covering influencer disclosure, employee reviews, fake reviews, and clear-and-conspicuous standards; and the FTC's CAN-SPAM, COPPA and 2024 'Click-to-Cancel' / negative-option enforcement. The 2024 Consumer Review Fairness Act enforcement and Operation AI Comply also flow through the FTC Act §5 unfair-and-deceptive framework.

Start free trial Free trial, no credit card, onboard in days, not months.

Made in USA — the 'all or virtually all' standard codified

16 CFR Part 323 codifies the FTC's long-standing Made in USA enforcement policy as a rule with civil-penalty teeth. An unqualified 'Made in USA' claim (on labels, mail-order ads, online ads) requires: (1) final assembly or processing occurs in the US, (2) all significant processing that goes into the product occurs in the US, and (3) all or virtually all ingredients or components are made and sourced in the US. Qualified claims ('Made in USA from imported components', '60% US content') are permitted with substantiation. The rule applies to product labels, online listings, mail-order catalogs and direct mail. Civil penalties run up to $51,744 per violation (adjusted annually). The FTC has been aggressive — multiple seven-figure settlements since 2022.

Endorsement Guides — influencer and review disclosure (16 CFR Part 255)

The 2023 Endorsement Guides update tightened the rules on influencer marketing, employee reviews, fake reviews and consumer testimonials. Material connections (paid posts, free product, family/employee relationships, affiliate commissions) must be disclosed clearly and conspicuously — not buried in a hashtag stack, not in profile bios, and not in foreign languages relative to the post. The advertiser is liable for endorser non-disclosure if the advertiser has policies but does not enforce them. Fake reviews (manufactured, employee-written without disclosure, paid for without disclosure, manipulated) are explicitly deceptive. The companion 2024 Trade Regulation Rule on Consumer Reviews and Testimonials (16 CFR Part 465) makes specific review-manipulation practices subject to civil penalties.

Click-to-Cancel and the Negative Option Rule

The FTC's 2024 Negative Option Rule (16 CFR Part 425) — known as Click-to-Cancel — requires that any auto-renewal, free-to-paid trial, or continuity subscription provide a cancellation mechanism at least as simple as the sign-up flow, in the same medium (online sign-up requires online cancellation). The rule also requires clear disclosure of all material terms before charging, express informed consent before charging, and annual renewal reminders for subscriptions over one year. Civil penalties apply per violation. State laws (California, Colorado, New York) add further requirements. The rule is in litigation but enforcement on the underlying ROSCA (Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act) continues.

Health claims, comparative claims and substantiation

Health, performance and comparative claims require 'competent and reliable scientific evidence' — typically randomised controlled human clinical trials for disease-related and efficacy claims, with substantiation files maintained before claims run. The FTC and FDA jointly enforce on dietary supplements; the FTC alone runs efficacy enforcement on consumer products, devices, and weight-loss/health products. Comparative claims require substantiation of the comparison basis. The 2022 Health Products Compliance Guidance restated the substantiation requirements with case examples. AI-generated claim copy is treated the same as human-written copy — the advertiser is responsible for substantiation regardless of source.

Operation AI Comply and AI-generated content

FTC's 2024 Operation AI Comply targets deceptive AI claims and AI-enabled deception: false claims of AI capability, AI tools used to generate fake reviews, AI-generated impersonations, and AI 'lawyer/doctor' tools without proper substantiation. The FTC's position is that AI tools and AI-generated content are subject to the same §5 standards as human-generated content — the advertiser/operator is liable. AI-generated reviews, AI-generated influencer content without disclosure, and AI-generated comparative claims without substantiation all trigger enforcement.

Practical readiness — building for FTC enforcement

Maintain a substantiation library indexed by claim — every advertising claim should resolve to a file containing the supporting evidence. Run Made in USA claims through a country-of-origin BOM check before they publish. Operate a documented influencer/affiliate compliance programme with disclosure training, contractual disclosure requirements, and periodic monitoring with corrective action. Audit subscription flows quarterly against Click-to-Cancel parity. Treat AI-generated copy as advertiser content for substantiation and disclosure. Track FTC consent orders in your category — the operative consent orders shape the practical compliance ceiling more than the published rules.

Where this lives in V5 Ultimate

The clauses above aren't theoretical — every one maps to a shipped module and an industry profile. Jump to the parts of the product that turn this guide into evidence on a Monday morning.

Modules that do the work

Industries this hits hardest

Consumer products Dietary supplements Food & beverage Cosmetics & personal care

Frequently asked

Can I say 'Designed in USA' or 'Assembled in USA' instead?

Qualified claims like 'Assembled in USA from imported components' and 'Designed in USA' are permitted with substantiation. 'Assembled in USA' specifically requires that the assembly is substantial and the principal assembly takes place in the US (the FTC's pre-2021 'Assembled in USA' guidance is still operative). 'Designed in USA' alone (without 'Made in USA') is generally lawful if true.

Is a #ad hashtag enough for influencer disclosure?

Often not. The FTC's clear-and-conspicuous standard requires the disclosure to be unavoidable — at the start of a video, in the visible portion of a caption (not after 'more'), in a font readable on a phone, and in the same language as the post. A single #ad in a hashtag stack at the end of a long caption is frequently cited as inadequate.

Does Click-to-Cancel apply to B2B subscriptions?

The Negative Option Rule applies to consumer transactions. Pure B2B subscriptions sold to businesses are generally outside the rule. But subscriptions sold to sole proprietors or freelancers can be treated as consumer transactions, and many states (notably California's ARL) sweep in some B2B subscriptions. Build cancellation parity by default — the litigation risk of getting this wrong is asymmetric.

Can the FTC reach a brand for an influencer's missing disclosure?

Yes — and the FTC has done so repeatedly. The advertiser is responsible for material connections by its endorsers. The defence is a documented programme: disclosure training, contractual requirements, periodic monitoring, and corrective action when issues are found. 'We told them to disclose' without monitoring evidence is not a defence.

See it on your shop floor.

Free trial, no credit card, onboard in days, not months.

Start free trial See pricing →Browse all resources →