A bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduced last week the Build America, Buy America Act, which seeks to guarantee that all taxpayer-funded infrastructure and public works projects utilize American-made products.
It is an expansion of Buy America rules already in place, but which these senators note have not been fully implemented into federal programs which provide grants for infrastructure construction. U.S. Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Mike Braun (R-IN) and Gary Peters (D-MI) want to change that, and force products like Chinese or Russian made steel out of the American marketplace.
“When the government spends American taxpayer money on an infrastructure project, it’s common sense that the materials used in that project should be purchased from those same taxpayers making those materials in the United States,” Portman said. “We have the world’s best workers making the best materials we need right here at home.”
Iron, steel, and manufactured products would all fall under the new requirements. Currently, foreign materials can be utilized in several federal infrastructure projects, from highways to roads, bridges, water, and energy infrastructure projects. One such example that has earned the senators ire is the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), which only applies Buy America requirements to iron and steel used for structures — things that make up less than five percent of highway project costs. The Build America, Buy America Act would end such loopholes and demand full compliance.
“We cannot allow foreign companies to continue to undercut our domestic industries,” Brown said. “Without Buy America rules, we are allowing manufacturing to go elsewhere at the expense of taxpayers. “It’s simple: American tax dollars should go toward American-made projects that support American jobs. Period.”