'Made in USA push planned

World’s largest retailer looks to invest $350B in U.S. manufacturing.

Walmart plans to invest $350 billion in products made, grown or assembled in the United States over the next 10 years, a move it says will help create 750,000 jobs.

The world’s largest retailer said Wednesday it is committing to source a wide range of American-made products, including textiles, plastics, small electrical appliances, food processing, and pharmaceutical and medical supplies.

“U.S. manufacturing really matters,” John Furner, chief executive of Walmart U.S., said in a statement. “More businesses are choosing to establish their manufacturing operations in the United States, and the result is more jobs for Americans — a lot more jobs.”

Furner announced the investment Wednesday during a visit to a Techtronic Industries plant in Anderson, South Carolina, where the company manufacturers products for brands such as Hoover, Oreck and Dirt Devil that are sold in Walmart stores.

The retailer, which last year had $524 billion in sales, said its efforts could help reduce carb on-dioxide emissions by sourcing products closer to its customers.

Walmart’s Made in America efforts have come under fire in recent years. Truth in Advertising, a consumer advocacy nonprofit group, filed another complaint earlier this year with the Federal Trade Commission, saying that vacuum cleaners, bath towels and other products on the retailer’s site continue to be labeled “as Made in the USA when they contain imported components.”

JONATHAN WEISS/DREAMSTIME Walmart, which last year had $524 billion in sales, said its “Made in the USA” efforts could help reduce carbon-dioxide emissions by sourcing products closer to its customers.