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AUGUST 2016 •
PPB
• 55
Don’t Weaken Buy American Laws—
Strengthen Them
F
OR THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY of
the September 11 terrorist attack, the
U.S. Transportation and Security
Administration purchased 70,000 com-
memorative bracelets to give to their
employees as a tribute to those who
died in the tragedy. The bracelets were made in
China and purchased under an exemption from leg-
islation that was passed to ensure the government
buys from U.S. manufacturers.
Most people don’t know that
the federal government has
signed trade agreements—
including the Government
Procurement Agreement of the
WTO—that supersede state-
level Buy American legislation.
What is Buy American legisla-
tion? It requires state agencies to
grant a preference to U.S. prod-
ucts or services when putting a
project out for bid. A number of
states already have such laws, and
the concept is a reasonable one.
Does it mean that all state pur-
chases will be U.S.-made goods
or services? No, but it helps.
In return for allowing U.S.
companies access to government
contracts in other countries, past
trade agreements have granted
overseas companies access to
U.S. federal and state govern-
ment contracts. This federal
trade policy trumps state laws. In
fact, some state-level Buy
American legislation carries
wording that the state preference
for U.S. made cannot supersede
federal law. Fortunately, foreign
companies purposely blocked
from state bids by Buy American
laws have no direct recourse in
U.S. courts. Only the federal
government can take such action,
and it is highly unlikely that it
would.
At a federal level, there are
three laws that require U.S. gov-
ernment purchasing agents to
give a preference to U.S. manu-
facturers—the Buy American
Act, the Berry Amendment and
the Buy America Act. The Buy
American Act, passed in 1933, is
the most wide-ranging domestic
preference statute of the three.
The Berry Amendment is related
exclusively to purchases by the
Department of Defense. The
Buy America Act (not to be con-
fused with the Buy American