Mark Drajen reports that the new jobs bill that passed the House today tightens up the "Buy America" provisions in last winter's stimulus: ‘Buy American’ Rules Strengthened in U.S. Measure. The measures he describes involve complicating the paperwork necessary to get waivers to use foreign-sourced material:
The 119-page measure contains proposals from lawmakers including Democratic Representative Daniel Lipinski of Illinois requiring federal agencies to publish requests for waivers on their Web sites. Waivers that are granted must contain a detailed rationale with an analysis of the impact of the waiver on U.S. factory jobs, the legislation says.
As Corey Boles reports (House Approves $154 Billion Job Bill), the Senate won't take this up until next year.
I understand that advocates hope to get a bigger job impact from the spending, but there are other considerations as well. As the Chamber of Commerce points out, these measures complicate project development and delay the advent of jobs.
"Buy America" measures reduce competition, increase project costs, and reduce the amount of new infrastructure and productive capital that we will get from our investments.
Also, remember, what we can do to foreigners, they can do to us. That can cost us jobs in the current crisis. In the long run, the big growth markets of the future lie overseas, and the U.S. has a vested interest in a liberal and open global trading regime.
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