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.
The Act would require OMB to issue guidance so that procurement officers aren't breaking up procurements to avoid applicability of the Buy American Act.
I think the bigger problem is that procurements that are too big avoid Buy American requirements.
The Act would add a "do not decrease US employment" requirement to Buy American waivers.
It incorporates anti-dumping considerations into procurement decisions - a linking up of two systems usually kept separate. Big change.
Trump increased the domestic content requirement from 50 to 55 percent. Congress is now calling on a bipartisan basis for a much higher jump - up to as much as 75 percent.
They kinda sorta fix the Acetris / Trade Agreement Act problem of very minimal value added items being counted as domestic products.
To really fix the problem, Congress should explicitly call for "US end-made product" to be one where "ALL manufacturing processes involved in production of the end product occur domestically."
And here's where the thing appears contradictory: an insistence on WTO compatibility.
If that's the requirement, the US will not be able to get around Buy American not applying for many procurements over $182 k. For coherence, should have called for WTO reform.
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This is the result of a 4 year review since the beginning of the Biden administration, which has been evaluating whether various Chinese policies comport with US trade laws.
Fantastic panel @HarvardMWC on lessons we can learn from global experiences with industrial policy, with @rodrikdani @straightedge @myrto_kaloup and @rohlamba.
Myrto talking Chinese shipbuilding excess capacity. Has 50-70% market share today.
@Rohan_Sandhu Myrto says Chinese shipbuilding not efficient when taken on their own, but had clear benefits in terms of outward exports / lowering transportation costs / enhancing military capacity. nber.org/papers/w26075
NEW from me @RooseveltFwd: How Biden's comments on US Steel's tie up with Japan's Nippon company indicate what a Foreign Policy for the Middle Class might look like in practice. rooseveltforward.org/2024/04/03/bid…
The idea of reorienting foreign economic policy to build labor power and combat inequality was articulated by @JakeSullivan46 @jennifermharris and others in a series of essays and reports in 2019-20. foreignpolicy.com/2020/02/07/ame…
This doesn't mean that traditional diplomacy has to die out. Indeed, as @dimi and @KanaInagaki report, even after Biden's comments, the US and Japan are slated to make the biggest upgrade to their alliance in 60 years. ft.com/content/df9999…
BREAKING from @AP: @Energy agency announces $6 billion to slash emissions in industrial facilities.
@JenMcDermottAP @anniesartor @SecGranholm @alizaidi46 and me on why this is game changing, and could allow the US to catch up/ lead on industrial decarb. apnews.com/article/climat…
The mix of projects funded here is exciting, including a range of technologies to be deployed by US leader @CLE_CLF, and even projects by Sweden's SSAB. energy.gov/oced/industria…
"EVEN IF YOU’RE CONVINCED that unionized labor is sclerotic and expensive and an impediment to production, cutting them out creates the very real risk of losing the coalition necessary to sustain green industrial policy."
@ddayen responds to @ezraklein. prospect.org/economy/2023-0…
I am sympathetic to Klein's wish to live in a society with more corporatist labor arrangements.
https://t.co/5jiumaovWrnytimes.com/2023/07/16/opi…
Want government that builds super fast, without the pesky guardrails of civil society input, local government consultation, or environmental or safety permitting?
The last 70 years of development economics has been technocrats & engineers slowly learning that you can't wish away politics and institutions. If your developmental strategy can't work politically and institutionally, it can't work.
That's why @ddayen's framework @TheProspect of A Liberalism That Builds Power is so useful. If you try to Either/Or your way through economic development or (countervailing) power-building, you could end up with neither. prospect.org/economy/2023-0…