This article will provide a general overview of consumer protection law in the United States. The historical background of the key laws and statutes will be provided along with a discussion of the sources of government authority in this field of law, specifically with regard to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). In addition to briefly reviewing the historical development of consumer protection law through common law theories and early statutory history, this article will provide the current standards applied by the federal government in determining unfair or deceptive acts or practices in commerce. To understand consumer protection law in the United States today, it is essential to have a basic understanding of the laws and statutes that created the Federal Trade Commission and which the FTC is responsible for enforcing on behalf of US consumers. By understanding the background of these relevant statutes, such as the FTC Act, we can then approach the organization of the FTC and better understand the functions of it separate institutions. Specifically, the FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection and its seven divisions will be discussed including the divisions of: Advertising Practices, Consumer and Business Education, Enforcement, Financial Practices, Marketing Practices, Privacy and Identity Protection, and Planning and Information. The authority of the FTC over consumer protection law will then be examined by exploring the US constitutional sources of executive authority and lawmaking. The sometimes confusing area of US federal versus US state authority and responsibility for consumer protection will also be examined and the Preemption Clause will be discussed in connection with the US Constitution to provide a better understanding of which areas are controlled by state laws and when and why the US federal government supercedes the states in consumer protection in specific cases and the legal justification for this. An important legal concept in US consumer protection law is that of “unfair or deceptive acts or practices.” To understand the law in this area, this article will examine the origins of this term and the role it plays in consumer protection. The definition of this term requires a standard which is set by FTC. This article will discuss the definition of this important term, the standards by which the FTC determines which acts are unfair or deceptive, and the authority of the FTC to make such determinations. Additionally, any limits on such authority will be considered. In a more concrete sense, it is important to consider the results of consumer protection law for the consumers themselves. For this purpose, this paper discusses the legal remedies available to consumers through both state and federal law as well as common law. Here, an understanding will be provided about how and why the federal and state levels of consumer law work together to protect consumers by providing government control over commercial practices which are deemed unfair or deceptive and also by allowing citizens to sue commercial actors who are deemed to have engaged in unfair or deceptive acts or practices. Finally, we will briefly consider the future of consumer protection in light of an ever increasingly globalized economy. In this case, the FTC in its mission to protect US consumers may need to cooperate and form agreements with similar bodies of other countries, perhaps through organizations such as the forum for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation or with the Korea Fair Trade Commission. Hopefully, approaches to consumer protection can be harmonized in order to fairly and efficiently protect consumers around the world.

This article will provide a general overview of consumer protection law in the United States. The historical background of the key laws and statutes will be provided along with a discussion of the sources of government authority in this field of law, specifically with regard to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). In addition to briefly reviewing the historical development of consumer protection law through common law theories and early statutory history, this article will provide the current standards applied by the federal government in determining unfair or deceptive acts or practices in commerce. To understand consumer protection law in the United States today, it is essential to have a basic understanding of the laws and statutes that created the Federal Trade Commission and which the FTC is responsible for enforcing on behalf of US consumers. By understanding the background of these relevant statutes, such as the FTC Act, we can then approach the organization of the FTC and better understand the functions of it separate institutions. Specifically, the FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection and its seven divisions will be discussed including the divisions of: Advertising Practices, Consumer and Business Education, Enforcement, Financial Practices, Marketing Practices, Privacy and Identity Protection, and Planning and Information. The authority of the FTC over consumer protection law will then be examined by exploring the US constitutional sources of executive authority and lawmaking. The sometimes confusing area of US federal versus US state authority and responsibility for consumer protection will also be examined and the Preemption Clause will be discussed in connection with the US Constitution to provide a better understanding of which areas are controlled by state laws and when and why the US federal government supercedes the states in consumer protection in specific cases and the legal justification for this. An important legal concept in US consumer protection law is that of “unfair or deceptive acts or practices.” To understand the law in this area, this article will examine the origins of this term and the role it plays in consumer protection. The definition of this term requires a standard which is set by FTC. This article will discuss the definition of this important term, the standards by which the FTC determines which acts are unfair or deceptive, and the authority of the FTC to make such determinations. Additionally, any limits on such authority will be considered. In a more concrete sense, it is important to consider the results of consumer protection law for the consumers themselves. For this purpose, this paper discusses the legal remedies available to consumers through both state and federal law as well as common law. Here, an understanding will be provided about how and why the federal and state levels of consumer law work together to protect consumers by providing government control over commercial practices which are deemed unfair or deceptive and also by allowing citizens to sue commercial actors who are deemed to have engaged in unfair or deceptive acts or practices. Finally, we will briefly consider the future of consumer protection in light of an ever increasingly globalized economy. In this case, the FTC in its mission to protect US consumers may need to cooperate and form agreements with similar bodies of other countries, perhaps through organizations such as the forum for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation or with the Korea Fair Trade Commission. Hopefully, approaches to consumer protection can be harmonized in order to fairly and efficiently protect consumers around the world.