Obama backs off Buy American

President Barack Obama signaled Tuesday he does not favor Buy American provisions in the massive economic recovery bill being debated in Congress.

Both House and Senate versions include requirements that steel and iron used for projects paid for with taxpayer funds from the spending legislation must come from U.S., not foreign, sources.

I want provisions that are not going to be a violation of World Trade Organization agreements or in other ways signal protectionism. I think that would be a mistake right now. That is a potential source of trade wars that we can't afford at a time when trade is sinking all across the globe, Obama said in an interview with ABC News.

I think we need to make sure that any provisions that are in there are not going to trigger a trade war.Related News

 

   The attempt to exclude foreign materials has been criticized by foreign governments and large segments of the U.S. business community.

   Obama said he expects the legislation to be improved, but noted that some of the criticism of the plan as wasteful or slow to pump money into the economy is contradictory.

   Keep in mind, for example, some want to put more infrastructure in the bill, and they're also complaining that it doesn't spin out fast enough. In some cases, there are contradictions there. I mean, we may want to spend on a whole bunch of great infrastructure, but it may take seven or eight years to do it, in which case we're vulnerable for the criticism that it's not spinning out fast enough. I think that in a package of this sort, that has to go to Congress with 535 opinions, at least, then there's going to be some give and take, the president said.

Source: American Shipper