American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 / Act's "Buy American" provisions should be removed

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"EU ambassador to the U.S. John Bruton warned Congress that the "Buy American" provisions will damage the U.S. as well as world trade by building protectionist sentiment around the world. Even a watered-down provision "Buy American" provision passed "in a manner consistent with U.S. obligations under international agreements" is still bad news, Bruton said. It may not violate treaties, he said, but it's protectionism just the same."

From Buy American, Buy Depression, by Investor's Business Daily editorial board (Investor's Business Daily, 9 February 2009) (view)

"We want to keep Cat and Bison workers on the job. Closing off markets for Cat's earthmovers and Bison's electric motors would do the exact opposite. Also, if the developers of road and bridge projects funded by the stimulus package can't buy materials and supplies at the lowest international prices, we're going to be able to build fewer roads and bridges."

From Sell America, by Chicago Tribune editorial board (Chicago Tribune, 8 February 2009) (view)

"True, everybody sensible scoffs at Reed Smoot and Willis Hawley, the lawmakers who in 1930 exacerbated the Depression by raising American tariffs. But reasonable people opposed them at the time, and failed to stop them: 1,028 economists petitioned against their bill."

From The return of economic nationalism, by The Economist editorial board (The Economist, 5 February 2009) (view)

"What the Congress is considering doesn't rise to the level of Smoot-Hawley but "Buy American" is protectionism and protectionist measures tend to feed on themselves. If this nation enacts them, our trading partners will likely retaliate and on it will go in a downward spiral."

From A whiff of Smoot-Hawley, by Rocky Mountain News editorial board (Rocky Mountain News, 5 February 2009) (view)

"Countries enacted trade barriers as their economies began to crumble in an attempt to protect themselves. By shutting down trade, an indispensable element in creating wealth, they made the Depression worse. In fact, economist Alan Reynolds showed 30 years ago that protectionism not only drew out the misery, it helped set off the decline."

From Right On Trade, by Investor's Business Daily editorial board (Investor's Business Daily, 4 February 2009) (view)

"Protectionist measures — be they quotas, tariffs or restrictions on where governments can do their shopping — have emotional and patriotic appeal to workers fearing for their jobs. But they are overwhelmingly seen by economists as counterproductive, particularly at moments of great economic peril. The history books underscore their point: The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, passed in 1930, is widely credited with helping turn a stock market crash into a depression."

From 'Buy American' provisions offer recipe for retaliation, by USA Today editorial board (USA Today, 2 February 2009) (view)

"One can make a good case for simplifying the package, and for tilting it somewhat further in the direction of tax cuts (cutting the payroll tax is especially attractive) in order to shove more of the stimulus to the front. But the aggregate mix of tax cuts and spending increases in the current proposal is not unreasonable. It certainly does not justify an effort to stall the bill."

From The US needs its stimulus now, by Financial Times editorial board (Financial Times, 1 February 2009) (view)

"Once the United States throws up barriers to imports, our exports become targets of foreign governments. And governments from Canada to Brazil to China have warned the United States to refrain from adopting such blatantly protectionist measures."

From No protectionism, by The San Diego Union-Tribune editorial board (The San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 January 2009) (view)

"At the behest of the most protectionist Congress in memory, Mr Obama may be about to repeat, at the dawn of his presidency, the same historic error that the much derided Herbert Hoover made just before quitting the White House in 1933."

From Obama's lethal game of beggar-thy-neighbour, by Rosemary Righter (The Times, 30 January 2009) (view)

"Some decry the Buy American effort as the start of a trade war. They say it's just disguised protectionism. That is thoughtless nonsense. It's nothing of the sort. It is entirely within international trade rules to require that these kinds of public projects use American-made inputs."

From Spend money on U.S. goods, by Byron Dorgan (USA Today, 2 February 2009) (view)