Congress Revolts On Obama Plan That Would Ban 'Buy American'

[eridani]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/03/obama-trade-congress-buy-american_n_1475277.html

WASHINGTON -- A group of 68 House Democrats and one Republican sent a letter to President Barack Obama on Thursday urging him to reconsider an element of the controversial free trade agreement currently being negotiated by the administration. If approved in its current form, the pact would effectively ban "Buy American" policies in government contracting.

Although the deal, known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, has received relatively little media attention in the United States, it has sparked international friction among consumer groups and environmental activists who worry that terms demanded by the Obama administration will eliminate important public protections. Domestically, however, the deal's primary source of political tension is from a portion that could ban "Buy American" provisions -- a restriction that opponents emphasize would crimp U.S. jobs.

Since the 1930s, the American government has offered preferential treatment to American producers in the awarding of federal contracts. If a domestic producer offers the government a more expensive bid than a foreign producer, it can still be awarded the contract under certain circumstances, but more recent free trade agreements have granted other nations the same negotiating status as domestic firms. The Obama administration is currently pushing to grant the several nations involved in the Trans-Pacific deal the same privileged status, according to the Thursday letter.

"We do not believe this approach is in the best interests of U.S. manufacturers and U.S. workers," the letter reads. "Of special concern is the prospect that firms established in TPP countries, such as the many Chinese firms in Vietnam, could obtain waivers from Buy American policies. This could result in large sums of U.S. tax dollars being invested to strengthen other countries' manufacturing sectors, rather than our own."

The letter from members of Congress to the administration marks a rare glimpse inside the typically secretive trade negotiation process. The terms of the free trade negotiations, including the Trans-Pacific pact, are withheld from the public, even though the governments of all the countries involved have access to them. Many major U.S. corporations have access to the draft negotiation texts through their positions on advisory boards to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the White House agency which negotiates trade deals.

[MrSlayer]

1. Notice the make up of the signatories.

I wonder if they are of the "card carrying Marxist" variety of House member.

And one Republican? Really?

[cali]

2. pretty much it is the Progressive Caucus.

[bongbong]

3. good fact to tell wingnuts

Their GOP heroes hate American manufacturers.