MinnPost’s Washington reporter Cynthia Dizikes pens a story today about a “Buy American” provision in the federal stimulus bill that could be a big boon to Iron Range mines and domestic steelmakers in general. Free trade proponents are fighting the measure, as is the European Union and pretty much any other place that sells steel into the U.S. market. Dizikes quoted U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-MN8), who represents the Range:
“If this ‘buy-America’ provision is not in this legislation, I’m off, I’m not supporting it,” Oberstar said. “I’m not going to have U.S. taxpayer dollars support foreign steel to displace U.S. steel workers in the mills and in the mines. Period.”
Given the support for the provisions in both the House and Senate, it is not likely that Oberstar will have to make good on this ultimatum — but the controversy over “Buy America” still raises some interesting questions.
Dizikes explores the issue further in the story. It appears the language is safe for now. This provison may ironically be part of what’s keeping companies interested in developing value added iron products on the Range as well, despite the economic climate. Just a theory.
I left a comment on that piece but for some reason it hasn’t shown up. The gist of it was, I’m also with Oberstar on this one, and he has the juice in D.C. to get something significant done for the Range. But why hasn’t anyone tried to advance the ‘Buy Local’ argument to blunt the outrage over ‘protectionism’? Goods that are shipped halfway around the world carry a substantial environmental cost, be they taconite pellets or tennis rackets. Take a page from the organic foods playbook and encourage Congress to buy ‘n build locally, relatively speaking.
With the current reality I think that the Obama administration realizes that Americans alone cannot spend themselves out of this economic recession and therefore need countries overseas to purchase our goods without the omen of a trade war. I am all about buying American but this “beg, borrow, and steal” mentality that the credit card industry has us in is too blame. We cannot loan or tax credit ourselves out of this one.