[ Daily News | December 12, 2016 |Inside US Trade]
Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) this week led a group of 20 Democrats asking President-elect Trump to ensure stronger enforcement and expansion of “Buy America” requirements after a push to include language on the issue in a water resources bill fell short before the 114th Congress adjourned.
A “Buy America” provision in the Senate version of the Water Resources Development Act called for the use of American-made steel and iron products in infrastructure projects, according to a Dec. 6 press release from Sherrod Brown (D-OH), but that was stripped out in final negotiations between House and Senate leaders.
The Senate approved the final version of the bill on Dec. 10, sending it to President Obama for his consideration.
Brown argued that stripping the provision would allow “foreign companies to continue undercutting the American steel industry.” But House GOP leaders announced on Dec. 5 that they would oppose its inclusion in the final version of the bill.
“This was the first major test for President-elect Trump’s promises to put America first and it failed because Washington establishment Republicans chose China and Russia over Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin,” Brown said in a press release.
