Another interesting point on the “Buy American” provision Chuck Schumer has proposed adding to Sec. 1603 stimulus bill grants for green energy (largely based on our reporting on stimulus for green energy going overseas) that is getting glossed over in a lot of the arguing on both sides of the debate – it doesn’t apply to products from most countries we regularly buy from.
In an earlier post I already pointed out that the “Buy American” clause is pretty toothless – if you have good reason for not wanting to abide by it (would hurt national interest, can’t find the product you want here in the U.S. or it’s too expensive) you are free to ignore it. But, the agency administrator in charge of the program has to make note of the waiver in the Federal Register. If you continue reading the text, you’ll see another big loophole which would effectively allow most of the wind turbines shipped in from overseas a pass:
If you’re curious, here’s where to find the lists of all the countries we have trade agreements with.
It’s true, China would not be covered by this point, but if you’re determined to buy wind turbines built there, it’s not hard to find one of the other reasons to apply.
