The US Innovation and Competition Act, which passed the Senate on a bipartisan basis earlier this month, included the Build America, Buy America Act, which significantly tightens Buy American rules. congress.gov/bill/117th-con…
The congressional findings section makes clear the multifaceted reasons why the spending of tax dollars for procurement purposes is unlike spending by private market actors.
The bipartisan agreed definition of "infrastructure" goes beyond the "roads and bridges" definition some in the GOP have insisted on, and included water and broadband.
Welcome to 21st century foreign investment protection policy. The left doesn't like tools like ISDS, but the beneficiaries of investment protection efforts will increasingly be green industries, which the left likes and wishes to be politically stronger. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
To be clear, ISDS is not mentioned here. But we know from the last decade of ISDS cases in Europe that a lot of disputes are related to governments making clean energy schemes less generous to producers.
To be even more clear, I count myself as implicated in this particular uncomfortable tension.
Thirteen senators call on Biden to temporarily suspend Buy American waivers for trade agreement partners, noting "this crisis has demonstrated the risks of long foreign supply chains."
This presidential discretion is built into the Trade Agreements Act of 1979, which greenlit the waivers in the first place. No statutory change needed. law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/19…
While some will bemoan the symbolism of closing procurement opportunities for allies, the reality is that: a) there doesn't appear to much uptake of this anyway; and gao.gov/products/gao-1…