• MSNBC, Tuesday, March 16, 2010 10:48 AM

What does it mean to claim that your product is "Made in America"? asks MSNBC senior producer John W. Schoen. Well, the Federal Trade Commission says that a product has to be "all or virtually all" produced in the United States (or one of its territories or protectorates) to bear the "Made in America" imprimatur. But it's not that simple, as 40 pages of rules attest. And therein lie the loopholes.

If part of your product was made in the U.S., "Made in USA from imported parts" is okay with the FTC. "Assembled in the USA," on the other hand, is allowed only if you have "substantially transformed" the product or if most of the work involved in making it was done in America. And if your product is not made in America you have to say so on the label -- unless it's on a long list of exemptions.

Incidentally, about 60% of the value of goods sold in the U.S. was imported in 2009, up from 14% in 1980 and 8% in 1960, Schoen gathers from government gross domestic product data.

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