Derek Merrin Makes Campaign T-Shirts in Bangladesh While Touting “Made in America” Agenda

October 13, 2026

COLUMBUS, OH — Derek Merrin is getting slammed for pushing a “Made in America” agenda while sourcing his own campaign merchandise from Bangladesh. As Merrin repeatedly runs from Ohioans’ questions on his record of raising costs for Ohio families, he once again “did not answer directly” when questioned about the discrepancy between his rhetoric and his choice to have his campaign t-shirts made by a company located outside of the United States that is accused of labor abuses.

“Derek Merrin’s choice to get his campaign merchandise made in Bangladesh is an affront to the Ohio workers he’s running to represent,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Abby Hasselbrink. “Ohioans deserve leaders in Congress who are going to actually fight to keep good-paying jobs in Ohio, not ship jobs overseas and sell out Ohio workers. Ohioans know that Marcy Kaptur is the only person in this race with a proven track record of saving Ohio jobs from outsourcing and standing up for Ohio working families. That’s why they will send her back to the House this November.”

Rep. Marcy Kaptur has always fought to keep good-paying jobs in Northwest Ohio. Her campaign merchandise is proudly made in the United States, with Rep. Kaptur telling Spectrum News, “For us in this district, ‘Made in America’ is everything.”

Read more from Spectrum News about Derek Merrin’s blatant hypocrisy pushing a “Made in America” agenda while making his t-shirts overseas:

Spectrum News – Ohio Republican promotes “Made in America” agenda—but his campaign T-shirts were made in Bangladesh

A Republican congressional candidate in Ohio touts a “Made in America” agenda, but at least some of his campaign merchandise is made in Bangladesh by a company accused of labor abuses.
In campaign speeches, Former state Rep. Derek Merrin, a Republican challenging long-serving Rep. Marcy Kaptur in Ohio’s 9^th District, often mentions the decline of manufacturing in Toledo, which was hit hard by the national trend of deindustrialization in the last half century. Merrin frequently criticizes Kaptur, who has been in office since 1983, of abandoning Ohio’s workers.
Merrin’s campaign also sent out mailers reading, “Derek Merrin’s plan: good jobs, bigger paychecks, made in Ohio.”
However, at least some of Merrin’s campaign T-shirts are made in Bangladesh, as evidenced by the tag of a T-shirt given out to campaign volunteers this summer.
The shirt was made by Gildan, a Canadian company with about 75,000 employees in factories across the world. The Workers Rights Consortium, UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and other labor rights groups have accused the company of labor violations in multiple countries.
At a press gaggle this week, Merrin did not answer directly when Spectrum News brought up the Gildan campaign T-shirts and asked what standard candidates who push a “Made in America” agenda should be held to when it comes to their own campaigns.
Kaptur’s campaign said its campaign T-shirts were all made by Royal Apparel, an American company with manufacturing facilities in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The tag of a Kaptur campaign t-shirt obtained by Spectrum News says the t-shirt was made in the U.S. “with imported yarns.”
“For us in this district, ‘Made in America’ is everything,” Kaptur said in an interview with Spectrum News. “I believe we have to make, not just buy.”

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