WASHINGTON — The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) today applauded the Senate passage of Senator Tammy Baldwin’s (D-WI) COOL Online Act, which would mandate that country-of-origin labeling (COOL) be clearly and conspicuously stated in any website description of a product. This would protect Americans’ right to know where the products they buy are made and help promote goods that are made in America. The bill was included as part of the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act of 2021 (S. 1260) that passed the Senate today by a vote of 68 to 32. In May, the COOL Online Act passed the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation with overwhelming bipartisan support.
“Today, the U.S. Senate voted to stand with Americans over China and large online retailers like Amazon that want to prevent U.S. consumers from knowing where their products are really made,” said Michael Stumo, CEO of CPA. “CPA represents the American businesses and the hard-working men and women who actually make things right here in America. We strongly support Senator Baldwin’s COOL Online Act and we urge the House of Representatives to pass this bipartisan legislation so that it may be signed into law.”
Last month, CPA urged Congress to reject the lobbying efforts of large online retailers and importers like Amazon to prevent the COOL Online Act from becoming law, which CPA CEO Michael Stumo wrote about in Fox Business. Additionally, CPA led a coalition letter to Members of the U.S. Senate urging them to pass the bill. Joining CPA in signing the letter were the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO), the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, The Manufacturers Association of Central New York (MACNY), and the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM).
Under current U.S. law, a product’s external packaging must state its country of origin. However, e-commerce has made distinguishing an item’s place of origin more difficult. Websites often do not display the country-of-origin for a product since labeling laws were written before the advent of internet shopping. In April, CPA highlighted how hundreds of millions of dollars worth of copycat goods and stolen IP are coming in from China as American consumers continue to shop online, with their orders going directly to Chinese manufacturers.
