Inauguration Day Feels Like Groundhog Day for Buy American

Daniel J. IkensonExactly four years ago today, responding to the protectionist pledges in President Trump ' s inaugural speech, I warned of thefalse promise of Buy Americanregulations. Because ofthis memo from incoming White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain to incoming White House staff, I republish parts of that warning below. The memo notes that, by February 1, President Biden will take action to " fulfill his promises to strengthen Buy American provisions so the future of America is made in America, " which is another way of saying U.S. taxpayers will be charged double for half the infrastructure they ' re forced to buy, and that American producers will  not have a stake in the future of the rest of the world.Although I ' m relieved that Trump was vanquished and now appears to be in our rear-view mirror, I am deeply concerned that the protectionism he prioritized in his bogus quest to make America great again will remain a fixture of U.S. trade and domestic economic policy for many years to come. After all, Trumpstole the Democratic Party playbook on trade, promoting tariffs andtrade agreements that are heavy on enforcement provisions and light on incentives to actually trade, and the political imperative now may be for Democrats to double down to show that they, too, can deliver for the protectionist demandeurs both parties court.Exceptinga few brave Democratic voices, there is precious little evidence in the Biden administration and among congressional leadership of an ap...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs