President Biden will on Monday sign an executive order aimed at boosting his ‘Buy American’ efforts, following years of his predecessor’s ‘Buy American, Hire American’ initiatives.
The order, which the commander – in – chief will sign this afternoon, aims to increase local manufacturing by harnessing the purchasing power of the federal government and closing loopholes for businesses doing business overseas.
If the ‘Buy American’ monk sounds familiar, it’s because President Donald Trump has signed several executive actions focused on his ‘Buy American, Hire American’ agenda dating back to early 2017.
In April of that year, the 45th president signed an executive action encouraging federal agencies to buy iron, steel, and manufactured goods in the United States.
Two years later, he signed two more actions, focused on encouraging the use of U.S.-made materials in federally funded infrastructure projects.
Executive orders are legally binding and are consequently published in the Federal Register. Executive actions, on the other hand, are more often symbolic attempts to bring about change.
Trump’s directives have encouraged new grant and loan recipients to use iron, steel, aluminum, cement and other U.S.-made products, but have not made it mandatory.
What Biden is going to sign on Monday is an order that will increase how much of a product has to be made in the US to qualify as in America.
It will also create a website for Americans to see what contracts are awarded to foreign sellers, and a position at the Office of Management and Budget to implement the federal procurement effort.
The federal government spends nearly $ 600 billion annually on goods and services, which Biden officials say will keep the order more in the United States.
A senior Biden administration official spoke to reporters on Sunday about the similarities in the “Buy American” messages.
“The previous administration has issued numerous exemptions and orders. But looking at the outcome, there was no significant change in the way home content was measured, or the severity of the requirements for home content or the use of waivers to the Buy American provision, ‘the official argued. .
“So you know, in practice, nothing happened.”
Yet Trump has repeatedly accused Biden of plagiarizing him while on the campaign over his embrace of the “Buy American” messages.
In July last year, when the general election campaign was in full swing, Trump told reporters outside the White House that Biden ‘had plagiarized me, but he could never get it. He likes plagiarism. ”
With Post threads