4 February 2009

‘Buy American’ Provisions Under Deliberation in Congress

The Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA) and the Japan Business Machine and Information System Industries Association (JBMIA) are strongly concerned that the broadened ‘Buy American’ provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act currently under deliberation in the U.S. Congress will restrict U.S. government procurement to U.S. products.

At the G20 Finance Summit last November, the US joined other members in agreeing not to take protectionist measures over the next year. The electrical and electronics industry is strongly apprehensive that the proposed ‘Buy American’ provisions may prompt other countries to adopt protectionist measures and are highly likely to damage free trade, concerns that were also expressed at the informal WTO Ministerial in January this year.

We strongly urge the US government to respect its G20 commitment and abandon the proposed provisions in favor of continuing to pursue its traditional free trade policy.