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Jewish World Review July 24, 2003 / 24 Tamuz, 5763

Jill "J.R." Labbe

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Buy American — or the best?

http://www.jewishworldreview.com | In 1791, Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton argued that foreign tariffs were justified to protect the growth of fledgling domestic industries. He in particular cited the American military's need for reliable, home-based manufacturers for the tools of war.

That same protectionist argument is sounding today to a backdrop of flag waving in the halls of Congress. Duncan Hunter used his position as chairman of the House Armed Services Committee to get troubling "Buy America" provisions slapped on the Defense Department's 2004 appropriations bill.

Laws requiring "Made in the USA" labels on Defense Department purchases have been around since the Great Depression.

In 1933, Congress told the department that it had to buy domestic products unless the cost was unreasonable, American-made products were unavailable, or the secretary of defense determined that it was not in the public interest to apply the Buy America Act.

Hunter's crusade to tighten those mandates makes him the latest in a long line of opportunistic politicians who try to "protect" American companies while wrapping themselves in a mantle of patriotism.

Added to the House version of the defense appropriations bill without benefit of public hearing (or even a request for comments from the companies affected by the measure), Hunter's provisions limit the Pentagon's flexibility in what it buys from foreign suppliers vs. U.S. companies. The provisions also expand the number of U.S. parts that have to be in major defense programs.

Hunter's concern is that trading allies who take exception to certain U.S. foreign policy decisions - like going to war with Iraq - may stop supplying crucial components for U.S. weapons systems.

"(I)t's not wise to build up a reliance on a foreign source, which may be unreliable in a difficult circumstance," Hunter told The Washington Post in June.

Facts have a funny way of making fools of politicians. As tense as official relations got between the United States and France during Persian Gulf War II, Defense News reported that a French company kept supplying the Pentagon with special filters needed to keep U.S. helicopters aloft in desert conditions. The Germans helped repair a U.S. Navy fighter damaged in battle, even though the German populace overwhelmingly opposed the war.

The backlash from enhancing Buy America mandates could be very costly. The U.S. defense industry sells six times as much to Europe as the Pentagon buys, Joel Johnson, vice president of international affairs at the Aerospace Industries Association, told the Post.

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Does Hunter really want to spark a "Buy Europe" campaign?

In an age of coalition building, Hunter is a unilateralist. The California Republican holds isolationist views similar to those of xenophobe Pat Buchanan.

Hunter's viewpoint could jeopardize existing contracts between U.S. aerospace and defense companies and their international partners and vendors, and it could have "the potential to degrade U.S. military capabilities," according to the Office of Management and Budget.

Industry experts are wondering why this is even an issue.

"This is a solution looking for a problem," John W. Douglass, president of the Aerospace Industries Association, said in the July 7 edition of Aviation Week & Space Technology. "There is no rational explanation why we are attempting to do this."

"Rational explanation." Ah, see, Mr. Douglass, that's your problem. Politicians don't always have rational explanations for what they're doing inside the Beltway.

Beyond hamstringing the Pentagon's ability to go afield of our shining shores for needed tools and parts, the Buy America plan sets up a scenario for American monopolies - something that free-enterprise Republicans are supposed to view with disdain.

If there's only one domestic supplier of a certain part, tool or component, the price will go higher than a cat's back. Shades of $100 adjustable wrenches.

Full disclosure: My sainted stepfather was the director of manufacturing and facilities for Lockheed Martin's precursor, General Dynamics. He spent many a business trip in Europe, working on logistics and specifics for joint aeronautics contracts between his firm and NATO trading partners.

I like to think that my gentle, brilliant stepfather helped germinate the international relationships that flowered into the cooperation between Lockheed Martin and its eight international partners - the United Kingdom, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey, Australia, Denmark and Norway - to build the Joint Strike Fighter.

Remove Hunter's patriotic grandstanding, and the bottom line should be what's best for America's troops.

"If foreign machine tools are better than American ones, they should be used," said the Defense News commentary page on June 30. "If foreign parts are better, then they should be adopted. For that matter, if foreign systems are better, they should be bought."

America's fighting forces deserve no less.

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JWR contributor Jill "J.R." Labbe is senior editorial writer and columnist for the Star-Telegram . Comment by clicking here.

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© 2001, Jill "J.R." Labbe