Conservative clothing company fined more than $200 million for replacing made in China shirts

The owner of a conservative clothing company has been fined more than $200 million by the Federal Trade Commission for replacing made in China tags with made in the USA tags in clothing.

The FTC took action against Lions Not Sheep Products, LLC, owner Sean Whalen, after he posted a video on social media in which he said he could conceal the fact that his shirts were made in China by ripping out the original tags and replacing them with tags stating that the merchandise was made in the United States.

Whalen and Lions Not Sheep removed tags that stated shirts were made in China and other countries between May 10, 2021 and Oct. 21, 2021, and replaced them with Made in USA tags, according to the FTC.

Lions Not Sheep states on its website that it sources their products and 'blank' garments from multiple domestic and international vendors and suppliers. In order to keep as many jobs as possible in the USA, our blank garments items that are purchased internationally are shipped to the USA and printed, embroidered, tagged, and bagged all inside the USA, it says on the website. This process is known as white-labeling. Whalen said he's proud to have built a company from a single tee shirt on blood sweat and tears and employs dozens of hard working Americans in a post on the company's Instagram in May in response to the FTC's investigation. Lots of folks who haven't done much always have plenty to say, but we at LNS are head down working hard to grow and support our first responders, military, and all patriots across the globe, and build a bad ass company, he said. Our t-shirts are printed in the USA! Our hats are embroidered in the USA! Whalen, who is also an author and life coach, told NBC News he will publish a statement regarding the decision of the FTC on Monday.

Whalen will be fined $211,335 as part of the FTC's order, and the company must stop making fake Made in USA claims and come clean about foreign production. Under the order, Whalen and Lions Not Sheep must stop claiming that products are made in the United States unless they can show that the final assembly or processing of the product takes place here and that all or virtually all ingredients or components of the product are made and sourced here, the FTC said in a statement.

Lions Not Sheep sells products on its website like shirts that say Let's Go Brandon, which is code for insulting President Joe Biden, according to The Associated Press. It also features hats and shirts with the hashtag FJB and the description If you know, you know. Another hat featured on the website contains the message Don't tread on me, a message featured in flags flown by the mob who violently overran the Capitol building on January 6, 2021.

The Facebook page tells readers that they have two choices. To be LED or LEAD. We are a generation of LEADERS. The company is based in Salt Lake City, Utah.