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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message -----
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title=lvpsf@igc.org href="mailto:lvpsf@igc.org">Steve Zeltzer</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=Undisclosed-recipients:
href="mailto:Undisclosed-recipients:">Undisclosed-recipients:</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, May 03, 2012 4:41 PM</DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Congress Revolts On Obama Plan That Would Ban 'Buy
American'</DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 15px; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 13px"
class=Apple-style-span>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em"><B
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em"><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; FONT-SIZE: 16pt"
lang=EN>Congress Revolts On Obama Plan That Would Ban 'Buy American'<O
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; FONT-SIZE: 0px"></O></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em"><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em" lang=EN><A
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; COLOR: rgb(30,102,174)"
href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/03/obama-trade-congress-buy-american_n_1475277.html">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/03/obama-trade-congress-buy-american_n_1475277.html</A><O
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; FONT-SIZE: 0px"></O></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em"><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em" lang=EN>WASHINGTON -- A group of 68 House Democrats
and one Republican sent a letter to President Barack Obama on Thursday urging
him to reconsider an element of the controversial free trade agreement currently
being negotiated by the administration. If approved in its current form, the
pact would effectively <A
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; COLOR: rgb(30,102,174)"
href="http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/BuyAmericanTPPLtrtoAdmin.pdf"
target=_hplink>ban "Buy American" policies</A> in government contracting.<O
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; FONT-SIZE: 0px"></O></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em"><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em" lang=EN>Although the deal, known as the
Trans-Pacific Partnership, has received relatively little media attention in the
United States, it has sparked international friction among consumer groups and
environmental activists who worry that terms demanded by the Obama
administration will eliminate important public protections. Domestically,
however, the deal's primary source of political tension is from a portion that
could ban "Buy American" provisions -- a restriction that opponents emphasize
would crimp U.S. jobs.<O
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; FONT-SIZE: 0px"></O></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em"><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em" lang=EN>Since the 1930s, the American government has
offered preferential treatment to American producers in the awarding of federal
contracts. If a domestic producer offers the government a more expensive bid
than a foreign producer, it can still be awarded the contract under certain
circumstances, but more recent free trade agreements have granted other nations
the same negotiating status as domestic firms. The Obama administration is
currently pushing to grant the several nations involved in the Trans-Pacific
deal the same privileged status, according to the Thursday letter.<O
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; FONT-SIZE: 0px"></O></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em"><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em" lang=EN>"We do not believe this approach is in the
best interests of U.S. manufacturers and U.S. workers," the letter reads. "Of
special concern is the prospect that firms established in TPP countries, such as
the many Chinese firms in Vietnam, could obtain waivers from Buy American
policies. This could result in large sums of U.S. tax dollars being invested to
strengthen other countries' manufacturing sectors, rather than our own."<O
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; FONT-SIZE: 0px"></O></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em"><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em" lang=EN>The letter from members of Congress to the
administration marks a rare glimpse inside the typically secretive trade
negotiation process. The terms of the free trade negotiations, including the
Trans-Pacific pact, are <A
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; COLOR: rgb(30,102,174)"
href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/05/aids-trade-regulations-patent-law_n_994940.html"
target=_hplink>withheld from the public</A>, even though the governments of all
the countries involved have access to them. Many major U.S. corporations have
access to the draft negotiation texts through their positions on advisory boards
to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the White House agency which
negotiates trade deals.<O
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; FONT-SIZE: 0px"></O></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em"><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em" lang=EN>"Buy American" provisions do not help all
U.S. firms equally. Corporations headquartered in the U.S. that offshore most of
their manufacturing operations do not benefit from the system designed to
promote domestic production in the way that companies with actual U.S.
manufacturing operations do.<O
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; FONT-SIZE: 0px"></O></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em"><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em" lang=EN>Public interest groups also worry that the
same trade policies that could ban Buy American breaks will also prevent the
U.S. government from making environmental or public health stipulations in
federal contracts. The current language barring preferential treatment for
American goods is so broad as to limit government specifications on goods to
purely functional aspects. When contracting for paper, for instance, the
government could specify that it wants to buy paper of the dimensions 8.5" by
11" -- but it could not require that the paper be composed of recycled materials
or use non-toxic dye.<O
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; FONT-SIZE: 0px"></O></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em"><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em" lang=EN>The potential "Buy American" ban also
conflicts with a top theme of Obama's re-election campaign -- boosting U.S.
manufacturing. In February, the administration proposed fixing a tax loophole
that has been exploited by oil and gas companies in order to provide breaks to
domestic manufacturers. The tax proposal is not expected to gain any traction
during an election year, however, although prospects for the trade agreement are
much stronger. Last year, Congress approved three free trade deals initially
negotiated by President George W. Bush that Obama had decided to support.<O
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; FONT-SIZE: 0px"></O></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em"><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em" lang=EN>The White House was not immediately
available for comment.<O
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; FONT-SIZE: 0px"></O></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em"><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em" lang=EN>USTR spokeswoman Carol Guthrie told HuffPost
that the administration is seeking "fair, transparent, predictable and
non-discriminatory" contracting rules.<O
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; FONT-SIZE: 0px"></O></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em"><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em" lang=EN>"The U.S. aim in covering government
procurement under the TPP is to provide new market opportunities for U.S. goods,
services, and suppliers," Guthrie said.<O
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; FONT-SIZE: 0px"></O></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em"><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em" lang=EN><A
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; COLOR: rgb(30,102,174)"
href="http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/BuyAmericanTPPLtrtoAdmin.pdf"
target=_hplink>Read the full letter to Obama here</A>.<O
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; FONT-SIZE: 0px"></O></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em"><EM
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em"><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em" lang=EN>This story
has been updated to include comment from USTR.</SPAN></EM><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em" lang=EN><O
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; FONT-SIZE: 0px"></O></SPAN></P>
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<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em" class=MsoNormal><O
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<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Lori Wallach<O
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; FONT-SIZE: 0px"></O></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Director, Public Citizen's Global
Trade Watch <BR style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em">215 Pennsylvania Ave SE,
Washington, DC 20003 USA<B style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em"><O
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em; FONT-SIZE: 0px"></O></B></SPAN></P>
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(1)202-547-7392 <O
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