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Biden pushes elusive 'Buy American' goal with new federal contract guidelines

Biden pushes elusive 'Buy American' goal with new federal contract guidelines

拜登用新的聯邦合同指導方針推動難以捉摸的“購買美國貨”目標
路透社 ·  2021/01/25 18:00

By Andrea Shalal and Timothy Aeppel
   WASHINGTON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden will take steps on Monday to harness the purchasing power of the United States government, the world's biggest single buyer, to increase domestic manufacturing and create markets for new technologies, a senior administration official said.
   Biden will sign an executive order aimed at closing loopholes in existing "Buy American" provisions, which structure the $600 billion in goods and services the federal government buys each year, making any waivers more transparent, and creating a senior White House role to oversee the process
   Increasing U.S. manufacturing, a central tenet of Biden's presidential campaign, has proven a vexing challenge for previous administrations, including that of former President Donald Trump
   Lower wages and weaker environmental standards have triggered the exodus of key manufacturing capabilities to China and other countries in recent decades, including medical equipment, resulting in critical gaps laid bare during the COVID-19 pandemic.
   China overtook the United States as the world’s top manufacturer in 2010, and was responsible for 28% of global output in 2018, according to United Nations data.
   Rebuilding critical supply chains and developing new ones is critical to U.S. growth, trade experts say.
   The U.S. trade deficit surged to $68 billion in November, its highest level in 14 years, as businesses scrambled to fill shelves with foreign goods and supply domestic factories reliant on foreign parts, offsetting a rise in exports.
   "The U.S. spends about $600 billion a year on contracts, and that is money that...can also serve to spur a revitalization of our industrial strength and help to create markets for new technologies," the official said.
   The order directs federal agencies to reevaluate the threshold used to determine U.S. content, to prevent companies it buys from from importing largely foreign-made goods and selling them as U.S.-made after making just minor tweaks.
   It sets a deadline of 180 days for regulators to finalize changes once proposed, and orders up a new website to ensure transparency about any waivers granted. The official gave no new percentages for required U.S. content, saying they would be determined as a result of the process being launched on Monday.
   The move is part of Biden's broader push to drive up wages, create more union jobs and strengthen U.S. supply chains, the official said.
   "He does not accept the defeatist idea that automation, globalization mean that we can't have good-paying union jobs here in America," the official said.
   The challenge in buying more U.S.-made goods is partly a reflection of the erosion of many basic industries. Major U.S. retailers, including Wal-Mart, have launched high profile "Made in America" campaigns, only to court foreign manufacturers afterward to get the goods consumers wanted. In 2015, the retailer faced a probe by the Federal Trade Commission for labeling products that were only partly made in the country.
   Business groups blasted the Trump administration's push   to expand "Buy American" mandates to the medical equipment and pharmaceutical sectors, warning they could worsen shortages during the pandemic.
   Asked if the order would be seen as protectionist, the official said it was fully consistent with U.S. commitments under the World Trade Organization. The White House hopes to work with trade partners to modernize global rules, he said.
   The process beginning Monday would "make sure that we are using procurement going forward in a way that actually builds domestic capacity, particularly in those areas where we have acute economic or national security needs and vulnerabilities," he said.  
  
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Trump administration pushes to rip global supply chain from
China - officials
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(Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Timothy Aeppel; Additional
reporting by Nandita Bose; Editing by Heather Timmons and
Jacqueline Wong)
((andrea.shalal@tr.com; +1 202-815-7432;)

安德里亞·沙拉爾(Andrea Shalal)和蒂莫西·艾佩爾路透華盛頓1月25日電-美國政府一位高級官員表示,美國總統喬·拜登(Joe Biden)週一將採取措施,利用世界上最大的單一買家美國政府的購買力,增加國內製造業,為新技術創造市場。拜登將簽署一項行政命令,旨在堵住現有“購買美國貨”條款中的漏洞,使聯邦政府每年購買的6000億美元商品和服務變得更加透明,並設立一個白宮高級角色來監督這一過程。“購買美國貨”條款是聯邦政府每年購買的6000億美元商品和服務的結構增加美國製造業是拜登總統競選的核心原則,事實證明,這對包括前總統唐納德·特朗普(Donald Trump)在內的前幾屆政府來説是一個令人惱火的挑戰近幾十年來,較低的工資和較弱的環境標準引發了包括醫療設備在內的關鍵製造能力向中國和其他國家的轉移,導致關鍵差距在新冠肺炎大流行期間暴露出來。根據聯合國的數據,中國在2010年取代美國成為世界最大的製造商,2018年佔全球產量的28%。貿易專家説,重建關鍵供應鏈並開發新的供應鏈對美國的增長至關重要。美國11月貿易逆差飆升至680億美元,為14年來最高水平,因企業爭先恐後地在貨架上裝滿外國商品,並向依賴外國零部件的國內工廠供貨,抵消了出口增長的影響。這位官員説:“美國每年在合同上花費約6000億美元,這筆錢……還可以用來刺激我們工業實力的振興,幫助為新技術創造市場。”該命令指示聯邦機構重新評估用於確定美國含量的門檻,以防止其收購的公司進口主要是外國製造的商品,並在進行微小調整後將其作為美國製造出售。它為監管機構設定了180天的最後期限,一旦提出修改意見,就必須敲定,並下令建立一個新網站,以確保批准的任何豁免的透明度。這位官員沒有給出所需美國內容的新百分比,稱將根據週一啟動的程序確定。這位官員説,此舉是拜登提高工資、創造更多工會就業機會和加強美國供應鏈的更廣泛努力的一部分。這位官員説:“他不接受失敗主義的觀點,即自動化、全球化意味着我們在美國不能有高薪的工會工作。”購買更多美國製造商品的挑戰在一定程度上反映了許多基礎產業的侵蝕。包括沃爾瑪(Wal-Mart)在內的美國主要零售商都發起了高調的“美國製造”(Made In America)活動,結果只是為了吸引外國製造商,以獲得消費者想要的商品。2015年,這家零售商面臨聯邦貿易委員會(Federal Trade Commission)的調查,原因是該公司在只有部分在中國製造的產品上貼標籤。商業團體抨擊特朗普政府將“購買美國貨”(Buy American)授權擴大到醫療設備和製藥行業的努力,警告稱,這可能會加劇疫情期間的短缺。當被問及該命令是否會被視為保護主義時,這位官員表示,這與美國在世界貿易組織(WTO)下的承諾完全一致。他説,白宮希望與貿易夥伴合作,使全球規則現代化。他説,週一開始的程序將“確保我們未來使用採購的方式能夠真正建設國內能力,特別是在那些我們有迫切的經濟或國家安全需求和脆弱性的領域”。/>特朗普政府推動將全球供應鏈從中國-官員 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>(Andrea Shalal和Timothy Aeppel報道;補充Nandita Bose報道;Heather Timmons和傑奎琳·王(Jacqueline Wong)(andrea.shalal@tr.com;+1 202-815-7432;)

譯文內容由第三人軟體翻譯。


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