Cart
0
“Made in USA” is one of the most requested attributes in promotional products and one of the least precisely used. A distributor who tells a client a piece is USA-made, and is then asked where the leather was cut, needs a better answer than the supplier’s catalog badge. This post lays out the four claims that get blurred together, how to ask a supplier the question that separates them, and what a distributor can accurately say about a Corium order.
Four claims that are not the same thing
Made in USA. Under the Federal Trade Commission’s standard, an unqualified “Made in USA” claim means the product was “all or virtually all” made in the United States: final assembly or processing here, and all significant parts and processing of US origin, with any foreign content negligible. This is the strict version, and it is the one a client hears when you say the words.
Assembled in USA. A qualified claim: the product was put together here from components that may have been imported. It is legitimate when stated as such, and it is not the same as the unqualified claim above.
Decorated in USA. The product was imported finished and the logo was applied domestically. This is the most common situation in the promotional products industry, and it is the one most often described, loosely, as “made in USA” on a catalog page. The item is not made here; the imprint is.
USA-based supplier. The company is headquartered in the United States. This says nothing about where the goods are made.
None of these is dishonest when it is stated accurately. The problem is the slide from the fourth to the first in a sales conversation.
The question to ask any supplier
Not “is it made in USA?” but “where is the material cut, where is it sewn, and where is it decorated?” A supplier who makes the product will answer with a city. A supplier who imports and decorates will answer with a paragraph. For leather goods specifically, add “what kind of leather?”, because “genuine leather”, bonded and PU are frequently paired with a USA decoration claim to produce a piece that sounds premium and domestic and is neither.
Ask for the country-of-origin marking on the piece itself. Imported goods are required to carry one, and it is a faster check than any brochure.
What is true of a Corium order
Every Corium catalog piece is cut, stitched and debossed in our own factory at 2626 N 2nd St, Minneapolis. The leather arrives as full-grain hides; our team clicks and cuts the patterns, skives and finishes the edges, stitches the piece on industrial machines, sets the hardware, and presses your client’s logo with a custom die on our own presses. The people who quote your order sit a few feet from the people who make it.
That gives a distributor a specific sentence to use with a client: cut, sewn and decorated in a factory in Minneapolis, from full-grain leather. It is more useful than the badge because it answers the follow-up question before it is asked, and it holds up if the client checks. Read more on our USA-made leather promotional products page and About Corium.
Why it matters beyond the badge
Lead time. A product made here is not waiting on a container. Most Corium items ship within 10 business days of artwork approval, and the Quick Ship collection moves faster. An imported-then-decorated piece is only as fast as the stock on hand.
Small quantities. Domestic manufacturing makes a 24-piece minimum possible. Import programs need volume to justify the freight; a factory in Minneapolis can run a board gift on Monday and a 3,000-piece program on Tuesday.
Custom work. When the catalog piece is not quite right, a domestic factory can prototype in days and revise on the floor. See custom manufacturing.
Procurement rules. Government, university and some corporate buyers have domestic-preference requirements. A verifiable made-in-USA piece clears them; a decorated-in-USA piece often does not.
The story. Clients repeat supply stories they can picture. “A small factory in Minneapolis” is a story; “a USA-based supplier” is not.
How to present it
State the claim at the level you can support. For a Corium piece: made in Minneapolis, full-grain leather, distributor-only supplier, ASI 46669, PPAI 751910, SAGE 52340. Put the factory sentence in the proposal and, if the program warrants it, in the packaging: a card that says where the piece was made is a small addition that changes how the gift is received. If the client wants proof, unbranded samples are available at EQP and the country-of-origin marking is on the piece.
Where a Corium piece fits: coasters, desk mats, key fobs, luggage tags and passport wallets and the rest of the line, all sold only through ASI, PPAI and SAGE distributors. Ordering steps, samples and setup charges are on our how to order page.
This post describes the FTC standard in general terms for a distributor audience; it is not legal advice on labeling, and suppliers and distributors should confirm their own claims against the current FTC guidance.