"Buy American" Requirements of Stimulus Law: Trouble Ahead?

By Craig Gannett

Buried in the new stimulus law is a “Buy American” requirement that threatens to delay or even prevent the use of stimulus funds for the construction, maintenance, and repair of highways, bridges, electric transmission lines, energy efficiency projects, port infrastructure, high-speed rail facilities, schools, and hospitals, among others. Unless the Obama Administration acts quickly to remedy the situation through the use of waivers, it could also encourage protectionism among our trading partners just as the world economy is struggling to avoid a replay of the 1930s. Continue reading...