What do you think about the 'Buy American' provision in the economic stimulus bill being debated in the U.S. Congress?

Thursday 05th February, 01:00 AM JST

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Zenpun at 09:37 AM JST - 6th February

America has been largest consumer in the world. It was responsible for delivering the high growth and prosperity for trading partners. Such as Japan, South Korea, South East Asian nations, China and India. If US did not buy, those nations will not get rich. High growth was fueled by high credits. It is unsustainable for a long time.

It was also a expense of low skilled American workers. Since the signing of NAFTA, countless Americans lost the jobs. The root cause of trade inbalance was a globalization. It is not good for developed nations like US and Japan.

Globalization is good for developing nations beacuse they have cheap land and labour. They are more attractive for business and investments. At that moment, US is broke and facing the moutain of huge debts. For solving these mess, US needs to import less and export more. It will gradually transform budget from red to black. It will casue some pains to trading partners. However US has no choice and needs to look after helpless citizens and falling banks now. Uncomfortable truth is US needs to spend less and high growth nations like India and China needs to spend more. When everything get back to normal, 'Buy American' slogan can be removed. If the world want US become strong again, they have to give US for reasonable time frame for protectionism.
mareo2 at 10:12 AM JST - 6th February

Secretary of Commerce (sitting erect) Yes, Mr. President?

Dave (from a card) You're spending forty-three million dollars on an ad campaign to... (reading) 'Boost consumer confidence in the American auto industry.'

Secretary of Commerce And it's proving quite effective...

Dave Does it make the cars any better? Secretary of Commerce No, sir. It's more of a perceptual issue.

Dave (beat) Perceptual?

Secretary of Commerce Yes, it's designed to bolster individual confidence in a previous domestic automotive purchase.

Dave (beat) Why?

Secretary of Commerce Well... to shore up product identification and preserve market share.

Dave So we're spending forty-seven million dollars to make people feel better about a car they've already bought?

Secretary of Commerce Yes, but I wouldn't...

Dave (indignant)Well I'm sure that's really important, but I don't want to tell some eight-year-old kid he has to sleep in the street because we want people to feel better about their cars. (beat) Do you want to tell him that?
sangetsu at 10:15 AM JST - 6th February

It's all nonsense. Exactly what do they mean by "buy American"? What are these "American" things they want you to buy? How many American products are actually in an American home? Not many. As for American cars, a large percentage are made in Mexico and Canada, and many components are manufactured in Asia.

This entire stimulus bill is ludicrous. Exactly what good is it going to do to borrow nearly a trillion more dollars and add it to the national debt? The amount equals nearly $5000 per person in America, and this amount must be paid back (with interest, I might add).

What's worse is that it probably won't do any good. No amount of "stimulus" is going to help. Everything the US government touches turns to crap, for each dollar you give the government in tax, they spend three. The best thing to do is for the government to keep it's sticky hands out of the economy, and let nature take its course. "Stimulus" will not fix anything, it will merely delay the inevitable, and in turn delay the eventual recovery.
noborito at 10:30 AM JST - 6th February

Full Support IT!

Time for America to think about it's self. Japan's package is what 12,000 yen or about 100 USD. The US plan is closer to 600 per person some I hear are getting even more.

Buy USA Support our hometown businesses.
Athletes at 11:53 AM JST - 6th February

Buy Made in USA

It will not only good for US, it is good for the whole world. If US economy is weak, the world wide economy is weak too. For US getting stronger, the world need to support US industries and jobs. Stamp out the all trade agreements. They are not good for low skilled Americans.

US products are Steel, Aeroplane, Computer Softwares, Communication Equipments, Chemical products, Multimedia and Agricultural produces. US Soy beans are very popular in China. US baseball products are very popular in Japan. China and Japan has to buy more.
Kwaabish at 12:27 PM JST - 6th February

Too bad that if someone wants to buy American, in the case of a digital TV, where would they go?

Where is Zenith these days..... RIP
SebastianFlyte at 12:33 PM JST - 6th February

American products are quite mediocre, so buying only American products would result in a loss of competitive edge - as well as the obvious trade barrier allegations.
telecasterplayer at 12:54 PM JST - 6th February

What do you think about the 'Buy American' provision in the economic stimulus bill being debated in the U.S. Congress?

Love it. Doing nothing, as the republicans want to do, is a proven failure. And this is the only option on the table. Hopefully it will be passed tomorrow, but it'd be just like Harry Reid to screw that up.

I just love that the republicans held last year's convention in Saint Paul, the city where the bridge collapsed into the river killing 13 people and injuring 145.. and this week they tried to strip the infrastructure spending out of the stimulus bill. Yeah, that's 'in touch'.

A tax cut never created a job. But a government program to rebuild highways, bridges, the grid, to hire cops and teachers and firefighters.. those are JOBS, like it or not.
telecasterplayer at 12:55 PM JST - 6th February

Oops! Forgot the most important line.... And the Buy American thing is okay, as long as we remember our allies (JAPAN).
bandacleo at 04:27 PM JST - 6th February

I totally support this provision. There is way too much competition in the US today. Trade wars start when there is limited competition with countries trying to get in... that is not the situation in the US, which consistently ranks among the top 3 on the "Worlds most open markets" lists ! Nations like Japan (rank 22) have seriously damaged the US work force and economy by focusing too much attention on the US. They have basically over fished the waters and now can't understand why they are no longer welcome... get real ! As for the EU... reality check, this stimulus package is for American workers and the US economy... not for foreign nations to try and dig themselves out of their own selfmade economic problems. Obama said it clearly... stop blaming the US for all your troubles. Welcome to the world of "change ... hey you asked for it !
LFRAgain at 04:43 PM JST - 6th February

Judging from the last four pro-protectionism posts and their subsequent "reasoning," if this is the depth and complexity of the average Joe's understanding regarding the state of the world and US economy, then we're all in for a long and bumpy ride. God help us all.
bandacleo at 10:33 PM JST - 6th February

"The sub prime disaster was wholly a US problem. It spread world wide because capital markets cross borders. The US gets a lot of blame, but in this case it's justified."

Hardly ! Do some simple research and you will see I'm right. Bush visited Saudie Arabia in January of '08, his concern was skyrocketing oil prices, then at just over $90 a barrel. The Saudies gave Bush some lip service, sent him on his way, then made a token effort to lower prices... realised in February at 86$ a barrel... then something happened. Seems the OPEC nations got together and, well, err, umm... decided to screw the world !

Over the next few weeks and months oil prices slowly crept up... hovering around the magic $100 a barrel zone... which was achieved by mid March. Prices bounced around this level for a few weeks then bang... $100 plus was the norm as market forces failed to correct the problem. And in April both the Dow Jones Industrial and OPEC generated oil prices converged on two fronts. A consistent price of oil over $100 a barrel and the final peak of the Dow Jones at just over 13,000 ! The rest is history. The Dow Jones plummets as oil prices hit $137 a barrel, with talk of $160... and this is still in the late spring and early summer months. By July the Dow has lost 2,000 points and Americans are staying home for the summer... the damage is done ! It's a free fall from there as speculators can't sell fast enough, realising the summer is lost... this in turn affects the housing industry as summer is the peak season for home building. The Dow continues to fall and from September 8th to October 11 loses almost 3,000 points... it's at this time that the term "sub prime loan" is introduced to the world ! Those are the facts, sorry of they don't mesh with many of you out there who simply want to blame the USA for everything. The charts and dates are all out there for those of you who wish to know the truth.
grafton at 11:16 PM JST - 6th February

Try living a normal life buying what you need from day to day & at the same time try & not buy something made in China. Now try & buy American, I think you are all in for a horrible surprise. If you can do it you will have to pay through the nose for it, & it will only be marginally better than the junk coming out of China.

I have a better solution, America should get it’s sticky fingers out of everybody else’s countries & go for the isolationist thing again. And wouldn’t that make the world a safer place to live.
bandacleo at 11:49 PM JST - 6th February

Grafton, your post reeks of a driveby flame.

"I have a better solution, America should get it’s sticky fingers out of everybody else’s countries & go for the isolationist thing again. And wouldn’t that make the world a safer place to live."

Let me refresh yer memory... the last time the US entered into an "isolationist" stage it got dragged into WWII with the bombing of Pearl Harbor ! Now, for the other part of yer post...

"America should get it’s sticky fingers out of everybody else’s countries"

You might be interested to know that the vast number of "Fortune 500" companies are American. 8 of the worlds top 10 most recognizable brands
are American. And Americans contribute more than 60% of "all" the worlds charitable donations around the world... the world has spoken, they love the USA !
yabits at 04:43 AM JST - 7th February

The plain truth about this "Buy American" provision:

John B. Judis, writing in The New Republic: "Officials from Canada and European Union have complained loudly that a provision in the House stimulus bill that requires American steel and iron for infrastructure projects violates the World Trade Organization rules. But guess what? They don't. The treaty allowed countries to make exceptions for government procurement for specific industries. The U.S. stipulated iron and steel. The EU--not to be outdone--stipulated drinking water, transportation, telecommunications, and energy. Canada stipulated steel, motor vehicles, and coal. So these complaints--and the similar outcry among corporate lobbyists in Washington--is base hypocrisy. And it's too bad that President Barack Obama is listening to them."

From Todd Tucker of Public Citizen:

"Translated out of trade lingo, both Canada and EU give their nations' products much more generous preferences than Congress is even considering giving ours. While current U.S. laws (merely extended in the stimulus bill) give U.S. iron and steel a leg up over the foreign competition for transit projects, Canada and the EU give their firms a leg up over American companies and products on EVERY aspect of transit funding, and many other government purchases besides.

"And, we're not criticizing them for it: why SHOULD decisions by democratically elected parliaments about how to best spend tax dollars on domestic infrastructure be subject to constraints imposed by international trade agreements? There is no "protectionism" at issue here. But, it is certainly hypocrisy--and perhaps a bit of opportunism--on the part of Ottawa and Brussels."