The Telling Absence of “Buy American” Mandates

Scott LincicomeIn announcing his $2 trillion infrastructure* plan yesterday, President Joe Bidenpromised that it would feature a hefty dose of Buy American protectionism:When we make all of these investments we ’re going to make sure, as the Executive Order I signed early on, that we buy American. That means investing in an American based companies and American workers. Not a contract will go out that I control that will not go to a company that is an American company with American products all the way down the line, and American workers. And we ’ll buy the goods we need from all of America.Cato scholars have spent decades explaining Buy American restrictions ’many theoretical and practical shortcomings, but perhaps the best Buy American lesson came only a few hours after Biden ’s speech, when news broke that millions of Johnson& Johnson vaccine doses had been spoiled at the company ’s Baltimore facility. Buried in theNew York Times story on the J&J setback was this reassurance (emphasis mine):The error does not affect any Johnson& Johnson doses that are currently being delivered and used nationwide, including the shipments that states are counting on next week.All those doses were produced in the Netherlands, where operations have been fully approved by federal regulators.What a relief!More seriously, the Dutch J&J doses (and the company ’sglobal vaccine operations) again reveal the telling lack of Buy ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs