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Chamber of Commerce Sides with Foreign Embassies Against Buy American |
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There they go again. Those running the show at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are attacking again the Buy American provision in the economic stimulus package.
Ignoring, once more, that Buy American makes fundamental economic sense by ensuring at least some of our taxpayer bailout money is invested in American-made productions, the Chamber is siding with foreign embassies battling the Buy American provisions. In a June 2 letter to lawmakers, Bruce Josten, the Chamber’s executive vice president for government affairs, asked Congress to exclude Buy American provisions from all legislation.
More recently, the Chamber held a joint press conference June 11 with the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters to decry the Buy American provisions in the stimulus. For a trade association with “U.S.” in its name, siding with foreign corporations against those in the United States is, well, you fill in the word that best describes it.
Auggie Tantillo, executive director of the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition (AMTAC), framed the Chamber’s action this way, according to the Daily Labor Report (subscription required):
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is effectively suggesting that America needs to buy more Canadian to dig out of our economic hole. That position doesn’t pass the U.S. economic interest laugh test.
The Chamber’s anti-Buy American stance, which undermines the interests of America’s workers, also isn’t amusing for the millions of jobless workers in this nation.
In fact, the Chamber’s false argument that Buy America provisions will start a “trade war” is a tired one. The stimulus requires that U.S. material be used in projects funded by the bill, but also states that the clause should not override U.S. international trade commitments.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative spokeswoman Deborah Mesloh said the Obama administration is committed to ensuring that the Buy America requirements in the stimulus legislation are applied in a manner that is consistent with U.S. obligations under international agreements.
Scott Paul, executive director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), said the rules are necessary to boost the sagging domestic economy and should be included in other spending bills.
It is common sense that a small portion of your tax dollars in a stimulus package dedicated to stimulating the American economy be spent in America.
At the AAM blog, Steve Capozzola knocks down the Chamber’s feeble arguments against the Buy American provisions.
- Buy America provisions in the recent stimulus bill are both consistent with longstanding U.S. policy and adhere to America’s international trade obligations.
- Most other countries utilize the same domestic procurement efforts.
- Furthermore, the U.S. has been a leading proponent of the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), which opens the U.S. market to foreign bids. Some of the very countries criticizing Buy America policy have made no such reciprocal efforts to open their markets.
Tantillo, whose AMTAC is founded by U.S. manufacturers, succinctly sums up the need for Buy American provisions:
The only way for the U.S. economy to climb out of recession is for people to start buying more American-made goods and services, including the U.S. government.
14 Comments
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I strongly feel that those that oppose this measure should find another job! We the working people are finding it hard to get by and need some help and I personaly would gladly buy products made in the USA, a matter of fact I look for the made in the USA label.
time to clean the slate,a full change of congrest&senate,and put americans back in office,the ones there now are not true americans.
Very well said Mr. Tantillo. But I would like to add, the only stimulus this Country needs is for its citizens to buy American. If you can’t find made in the USA in your store let them know, thats what your looking for. Then go to the internet, you can find any thing you need online made in the USA, anything. Weather its clothes,tools,toys or household goods its all there.
It used to be, the AFL-CIO had concerns that workers everywhere (all over the world) had a right to a living wage, decent working conditions and benefits. Workers should be sticking up for each other across borders. It’s easy to wave the flag of ‘buy American’ and it’s harder to defend the rights of workers worldwide, because that means educating workers here that an injury to one is an injury to all, and foregoing scapegoating of foreign workers who are just trying to live and provide for themselves and their families, no difference from what American workers are trying to do. The underlying problem is the worldwide system of capitalism, always concerned only for short-term profits over the needs of people here or abroad, and bolstered by its big business parties like the Democrats and the Republicans here in the U.S. We need a party for ordinary working people, not millionaires. We need a Workers Party in the U.S.
Totally agree with you “Social list”. Workers of the world need to unite. I fear though that this sounds like something from the 1950’s and McCarthy and J. Edgar Hoover had a field day looking for communists under every rock in America. Hope some things have changed but I doubt it. As for the so-called U. S. Chambers of Commerce, they have never cared for workers, only big business!!!
The US Chamber of Commerce seems to be growing more Anti-American every day! Lets outsource THEM to Mexico or China.
“Chamber of Commerce Sides with Foreign Embassies Against Buy American” OR “Selling One’s Soul To Appease Foreigners.”
Why don’t they just change the name to the Chinese chamber of commerce? With friends like these, who needs enemies? The fact is, there are not enough American goods left that are manufactured here to have an impact globally. My Dewalt drill, Klein test tools, Dickie work pants and Chevy Silverado were all made in Mexico.
We are losing our sovereignty as a nation and are now called, “The Americas”. A recent trip to the grocery store I find the steaks are labeled: Product of Canada, United States or Mexico as if it’s all the same thing. Let’s see, corn fed polled hereford from Iowa or sand fed Brahma from Mexico. Same thing? What do you think?
Business has sought to control workers since before the Revolutionary War. What has changed?
In the past, an organization like the Chamber of Commerce would have called out for treason. Alas, what times we live in.
Outsourcing everything has a definate national security implication in case some of these folks missed that. Economic? If folks do not work, whom will pay for Social Security, the taxes and the entire American system.
That is why Social Security and Medicare might be in trouble sooner rather than later. No workers, none paying into the funds.
Its just typical of a country that has sold out to ” foreign interests ” by our wonderful right wing friends in government. This has been steadfast action since 1981 when Reagan took over and has steamrolled into actions that have targeted against the people of this nation.
The rich want to parlay there power as much as possible over every citizen and control every aspect of our lives. I think its time we took this country back, forced out all the anti-worker conglomerates and transformed the hierarchy into something that respects us in every aspect.
If we can fight to keep them free, tehn we can fight to throw them out. If it means overthrow and putting in a true democracy then by all means its time to do so.
“The only way for the U.S. economy to climb out of recession is for people to start buying more American-made goods and services, including the U.S. government.”
While the sentiments expressed above fully understandable, they reveal complete ignorance regarding WHY the “U.S. economy” has failed American working people.
The U.S. economy (and global economy) is not designed to fill the economic needs of society, that is, the people who produce all the goods and services we need. That is the working people of this country. The needs of working people for jobs to buy the things we need to survive are not the concern of the people who own, control and profit from every aspect of the economy. Neither here nor in China.
We live in a GLOBALIZED CAPITALIST ECONOMY. Long ago manufacturing investors decided that, to be competitive in the globalized economy, they should move manufacturing to China, where they are today over 130 million workers UNEMPLOYED. Where workers will gladly work for pennies where American workers need dollars on a “living wage” job. They get no benefits at all, work slave-wage hours and conditions, etc.
Thus, all the products we see at WAL-MART are so CHEAP (and
American workers can afford these CHEAP products) is because of this GLOBALIZED CAPITALIST ECONOMY is able to super-exploit Chinese working people (who have the same economic needs of working people here).
The only beneficiary here is the capitalist, whose ONLY goal is to maximize profit. That you and I are becoming increasingly impoverished under this capitalist economy, that tens of millions of us have no health insurance, that the public school system is being destroyed, etc.etc. IS OF ABSOLUTELY NO CONCERN TO CAPITALISTS.
Additional crises have further destroyed the economy, as far as working people are concerned. Unending wars for oil and profit are taking tax payer money away from schools, health care, etc
we are being further impoverished. The vast corruption of Wall Street and the privatized banking system has now caused an economic collapse internationally.
Obama and the Democratic Party are totally under the control of corporate capitalist interests who are quite happy to destroy this country and it’s working people, if it means millions and billions of fast bucks in their pockets.
I won’t repeat the comment of “social list” above. We need a socialist political party to become a socialist government. We need to transition from capitalism to socialism. Socialism: where the economy is designed to meet the economic needs of the vast majority of people… working people… who make up society.
Socialism is now essential if we are to ever end wars, end global warming, provide jobs for everyone, socialized medical care that takes care of EVERYONE. An economy of, by and for the people.
Yes, we need a new labor, socialist party. The needs of the people should be discussed and debated on television, in the news papers, and at every level of government.
We need socialism for humanity to survive!
(Read the World Socialist Web Site http://www.wsws.org)
As I recall, there is a socialist party in the U.S.: The Democratic Socialist Party founded partly by the late Michael Harrington who wrote The Other America and the New American Poverty. I’d prefer a party with the definite label of Labor and it’s past time to pull it together.
Today the Chinese began their own buy Chinese program,these are the same people that cried foul on our buy American clause.If we do not protect ourselves no one else will.
Also I do not care about the problems in the rest of the working world I live here and I’m trying to survive here.The people of America can not and should not stick their nose into other countries problems.If we don’t protect each others jobs there will be none.
If you want to “buy american”, you have to shop online. You aren’t going to find any american made products in thes “big box” retailers. They are all following Wal-Mart’s lead. Wal-Mart is the most anti “american made” retailer in the world. They are responsible for most of the U.S. manufacturing jobs being outsoursed in the first place. They are also the most anti-union company in world.