It’s been five years in the making, yet a bill requiring online retailers to label the country of origin for merchandise remains a tough sell in Congress—even among the lawmakers who introduced it back in 2020.
Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) first introduced the COOL Online Act (S.295) with Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) as its Republican co-sponsor in 2023. However, after Vance became Vice President, Baldwin found herself without a GOP partner. That changed in January 2025, when Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) took Vance’s place. Scott, already a COOL advocate, has now joined forces with Baldwin to rally more support.
The bill is straightforward: Manufactured goods sold online must disclose their country of origin. Small sellers with less than $20,000 in annual sales on platforms like Etsy are exempt, as are agriculture goods and FDA-regulated food, drugs, and supplements (as defined under Section 201 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act).
As written, the bill does not require companies to retroactively label all existing product listings, though it remains unclear whether it applies only to newly added items. Clarifying this could help win over companies like Walmart and Amazon, both of which sell hundreds of thousands of products online. Adding country-of-origin labels to past product listings would require significant time and resources—a sticking point for e-commerce giants.
U.S. Chamber and CATO Rally Against COOL
Amazon and Walmart already display origin labels on some products, though they often use the generic term “imported” rather than specifying the country. If the COOL Online Act becomes law, they will have to list the exact country of origin for all covered products.
The usual suspects have come out against the bill so far:
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce called it an“ill-conceived provision” that would add “significant complexity, costs, and burdens” to e-commerce sellers.
The American people deserve to know where the products they buy are made, regardless of whether they’re shopping in-store or online. (This) legislation would close a legal loophole by extending current, common-sense labeling requirements to e-commerce.
Opponents argue that requiring platforms to track and label the country-of-origin for millions of products would drive up costs for businesses—costs that would inevitably be passed on to consumers. Adding a country-of-origin label to a product listing should only take seconds, yet Cato and others insist it represents a significant burden for business.
More transparency can lead to greater consumer confidence and that could translate to more sales for businesses that produce high-quality, reputable products. The argument that this would be too costly or burdensome is exaggerated—especially for tech companies that already handle millions of data points and should already know where all their sneakers and bath towels are coming from.
Amazon & Walmart Already Label Country Origin in India
Interestingly, Amazon and Walmart already comply with similarcountry-of-origin labeling rules in India. Walmart, which owns a majority stake in Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart, displays country-of-origin details under Flipkart’s “Manufacturing, Packaging, and Import Info” section on the product page.
Amazon complies with similar regulations in India, so adding country of origin text to product info would be consistent with other big markets. It enhances transparency and increases consumer trust in Amazon as no-go zone for counterfeit goods and cheap imitations, for example.
Back in the U.S., small sellers support the bill—even as the platforms they sell on oppose it.
The Indie Sellers Guild, a trade group representing small handmade artisan sole proprietors, called out Etsy’s lobbying efforts against COOL Online:
“They are lobbying hard against it by saying that we—the makers—don’t want COOL Online,” the Indie Sellers Guildwrote on its website in August 2023. “They claim it will be overly complicated and burdensome for handmade sellers, but we reviewed the bill carefully and found nothing to support that claim. The bill targets (sellers who are) dishonestly passing off foreign mass-produced items as handmade.”
That issue is rampant in the online retail world: Chinese entrepreneurs often copy trending American products of all types, mass-producing them overseas and sell them at lower prices here, undercutting genuine, American small businesses. A clear country-of-origin label helps consumers make informed decisions. If consumers want to buy from China or Brazil, they can. There is no penalty.
Do "Made in China" Labels Turn Off U.S. Buyers?
Many American consumers assume that shopping on a U.S. website means buying American-made products—or, more obvious, items from China. But if COOL Online becomes law, shoppers will suddenly see “Made in Bangladesh,” “Made in Vietnam,” or “Made in India” listed alongside their purchases. They will realize how import-heavy the U.S. consumer is, even if price is king in most purchase decisions.
That visibility alone could shift buying habits over the long term, says Greg Owens, CEO of Sherrill Manufacturing, the last remaining flatware manufacturer in the U.S.
“Making Amazon and others put ‘Made in China’ front and center on their page will turn most consumers off,” Owens said. “It will not convert 100% of potential customers, but if it swings even just 10% our way, that would be huge for us.”
Vance already approved of COOL. And the bill aligns with President Trump’s “America First” agenda as it highlights American-made goods, potentially boosting domestic manufacturing and job creation in a best-case scenario.
Baldwin and Scott’s bill is part of the new global trade narrative in the U.S. —one that seeks to make the country less import-dependent and reshore manufacturing. It also brings visibility to the influx of new, unfamiliar competitors—companies with names few Americans recognize, yet ones that are undercutting U.S. brands and pricing them out of their own home market.
COOL Online was previously stripped from the United States Innovation and Competition Act, which later evolved into the CHIPS & Science Act. But as a standalone bill, it is straightforward and uncomplicated.
At its core, COOL Online is a pro-business, pro-consumer transparency measure. It shines a light on where our goods come from, including foreign sellers who imitate American products and siphon off U.S. consumers with prices no American company can fairly compete against—and no American shopper can easily resist.
MADE IN AMERICA.
CPA is the leading national, bipartisan organization exclusively representing domestic producers and workers across many industries and sectors of the U.S. economy.
E-Commerce Bill Seeks More Support to Require Country-of-Origin Labels on Online Goods
It’s been five years in the making, yet a bill requiring online retailers to label the country of origin for merchandise remains a tough sell in Congress—even among the lawmakers who introduced it back in 2020.
Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) first introduced the COOL Online Act (S.295) with Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) as its Republican co-sponsor in 2023. However, after Vance became Vice President, Baldwin found herself without a GOP partner. That changed in January 2025, when Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) took Vance’s place. Scott, already a COOL advocate, has now joined forces with Baldwin to rally more support.
The bill is straightforward: Manufactured goods sold online must disclose their country of origin. Small sellers with less than $20,000 in annual sales on platforms like Etsy are exempt, as are agriculture goods and FDA-regulated food, drugs, and supplements (as defined under Section 201 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act).
As written, the bill does not require companies to retroactively label all existing product listings, though it remains unclear whether it applies only to newly added items. Clarifying this could help win over companies like Walmart and Amazon, both of which sell hundreds of thousands of products online. Adding country-of-origin labels to past product listings would require significant time and resources—a sticking point for e-commerce giants.
U.S. Chamber and CATO Rally Against COOL
Amazon and Walmart already display origin labels on some products, though they often use the generic term “imported” rather than specifying the country. If the COOL Online Act becomes law, they will have to list the exact country of origin for all covered products.
The usual suspects have come out against the bill so far:
Opponents argue that requiring platforms to track and label the country-of-origin for millions of products would drive up costs for businesses—costs that would inevitably be passed on to consumers. Adding a country-of-origin label to a product listing should only take seconds, yet Cato and others insist it represents a significant burden for business.
More transparency can lead to greater consumer confidence and that could translate to more sales for businesses that produce high-quality, reputable products. The argument that this would be too costly or burdensome is exaggerated—especially for tech companies that already handle millions of data points and should already know where all their sneakers and bath towels are coming from.
Amazon & Walmart Already Label Country Origin in India
Interestingly, Amazon and Walmart already comply with similar country-of-origin labeling rules in India. Walmart, which owns a majority stake in Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart, displays country-of-origin details under Flipkart’s “Manufacturing, Packaging, and Import Info” section on the product page.
Amazon complies with similar regulations in India, so adding country of origin text to product info would be consistent with other big markets. It enhances transparency and increases consumer trust in Amazon as no-go zone for counterfeit goods and cheap imitations, for example.
Back in the U.S., small sellers support the bill—even as the platforms they sell on oppose it.
The Indie Sellers Guild, a trade group representing small handmade artisan sole proprietors, called out Etsy’s lobbying efforts against COOL Online:
“They are lobbying hard against it by saying that we—the makers—don’t want COOL Online,” the Indie Sellers Guild wrote on its website in August 2023. “They claim it will be overly complicated and burdensome for handmade sellers, but we reviewed the bill carefully and found nothing to support that claim. The bill targets (sellers who are) dishonestly passing off foreign mass-produced items as handmade.”
That issue is rampant in the online retail world: Chinese entrepreneurs often copy trending American products of all types, mass-producing them overseas and sell them at lower prices here, undercutting genuine, American small businesses. A clear country-of-origin label helps consumers make informed decisions. If consumers want to buy from China or Brazil, they can. There is no penalty.
Do "Made in China" Labels Turn Off U.S. Buyers?
Many American consumers assume that shopping on a U.S. website means buying American-made products—or, more obvious, items from China. But if COOL Online becomes law, shoppers will suddenly see “Made in Bangladesh,” “Made in Vietnam,” or “Made in India” listed alongside their purchases. They will realize how import-heavy the U.S. consumer is, even if price is king in most purchase decisions.
That visibility alone could shift buying habits over the long term, says Greg Owens, CEO of Sherrill Manufacturing, the last remaining flatware manufacturer in the U.S.
“Making Amazon and others put ‘Made in China’ front and center on their page will turn most consumers off,” Owens said. “It will not convert 100% of potential customers, but if it swings even just 10% our way, that would be huge for us.”
Vance already approved of COOL. And the bill aligns with President Trump’s “America First” agenda as it highlights American-made goods, potentially boosting domestic manufacturing and job creation in a best-case scenario.
Baldwin and Scott’s bill is part of the new global trade narrative in the U.S. —one that seeks to make the country less import-dependent and reshore manufacturing. It also brings visibility to the influx of new, unfamiliar competitors—companies with names few Americans recognize, yet ones that are undercutting U.S. brands and pricing them out of their own home market.
COOL Online was previously stripped from the United States Innovation and Competition Act, which later evolved into the CHIPS & Science Act. But as a standalone bill, it is straightforward and uncomplicated.
At its core, COOL Online is a pro-business, pro-consumer transparency measure. It shines a light on where our goods come from, including foreign sellers who imitate American products and siphon off U.S. consumers with prices no American company can fairly compete against—and no American shopper can easily resist.
MADE IN AMERICA.
CPA is the leading national, bipartisan organization exclusively representing domestic producers and workers across many industries and sectors of the U.S. economy.
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