Since the debate is so heated among economists, politicians and business people around the world, I'm not going to dive into propositions like whether this provision of the stimulus package will benefit or hurt the U.S. economy and/or the world economy.
I'm simply here to hear from you, our readers, about how this provision relates to and can possibly impact the plastics industry.A fair amount of the construction materials to be purchased under the stimulus plan will be plastic products, right? Can anyone give some examples?What quantity of plastic building products does America import every year? Mostly from which countries and regions? How much of imported plastic building products goes into governmental projects?And, if we look into the details of the provision, waivers are allowed in cases where American-made products necessary for a project are not readily available. Are there any such plastic products?Waivers are also allowed where total project cost is 25 percent more expensive than it would be if imports were used. This one looks tricky to me. How big of a price advantage do imported plastic pipes have over U.S.-made ones? Will American manufacturers be willing to lower their prices in order to beat the 25 percent qualifier?Also, we know that countries like China, Russia, Brazil and India have not signed the World Trade Organization's 1995 agreement on governmental procurement and, therefore, do not enjoy the rights to the U.S. procurement purchases. But what about the 38 countries that have signed the WTO procurement code and have been exempted from the buy-American clause? Is it OK to buy from these countries? Doesn't it defy the whole purpose?SEARCH
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The 'Buy American' provision
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Don Loepp:
Here are some details on the "Buy America" language in the final stimulus bill, courtesy of the manufacturethis.org blog from the Alliance for American Manufacturing:
SEC. 1605. USE OF AMERICAN IRON, STEEL, AND MANUFACTURED GOODS (a) None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used for a project for the construction, alteration, maintenance, or repair of a public building or public work unless all of the iron, steel, and manufactured goods used in the project are produced in the United States.
(b) Subsection (a) shall not apply in any case or category of cases in “which the head of the Federal department or agency involved finds that -
(1) applying subsection (a) would be inconsistent with the public interest;
(2) iron, steel, and the relevant manufactured goods are not produced in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available quantities and of a satisfactory quality; or
(3) inclusion of iron, steel, and manufactured goods produced in the United States will increase the cost of the overall project by more than 25 percent.
(c) If the head of a Federal department or agency determines that it is necessary to “Waive the application of subsection (a) based on a finding under subsection (b) the head of the department or agency shall publish In the Federal Register a detailed written justification as to why the provision is being waived.
(d) This section shall be applied in a manner consistent with United States obligations under International agreements.
http://www.manufacturethis.org/2009/02/13/buy-america-language-in-final-stimulus-bill/