‘Buy American’ Rules Eased in Defense Bill
By Chris Cziborr
Defense contractors breathed a sigh of relief after Congress toned down “buy American” provisions in the 2004 defense bill, passed by the Senate last week.
Earlier versions would’ve required more U.S. parts in weapons and electronics and made contractors use only U.S. machine tools.
What passed calls for the Defense Secretary to assess the level of foreign parts in military products starting in 2005.
The bill also sets up a fund to support U.S. production of critical components, though it stopped short of earmarking money for the fund.
Instead of requiring defense contractors to use U.S. machine tools, the final version offers incentives for doing so.
Defense contractors and the Pentagon were at odds with Congress on the issue. Defense industry officials said the original provisions made no sense in a global economy.
Congressman Duncan Hunter, a San Diego Republican, spearheaded the “buy American” provisions. Duncan, who represents Poway and other parts of northern San Diego, chairs the House Armed Services Committee.
Committee spokesman Harald Stavenas said Duncan was content with the compromise.
“It’s a good first step in helping us understand there are certain critical weapons systems and components for which we cannot rely on potentially unreliable foreign sources,” Stavenas said. “There are certain things we must make here at home. This bill seeks to identify those.”
The final version is a typical congressional compromise, according to Chuck DeVore, vice president of communications and research at SM & A;, a Newport Beach company that works with contractors on bids.
“This is kind of a warning shot for people who would seek to acquire simply the lowest cost available technology without regard for the national security implications,” DeVore said. “What Congress is trying to do is caution the Defense Department that perhaps getting the lowest cost isn’t necessarily the overriding consideration when the national security of the country is at stake.”
DeVore said for now the bill will do little more than authorize information gathering on the level of foreign content in defense products.
“The interesting thing will be to see what happens in two or three years when the government begins gathering the data and starts to act on items being acquired 100% from overseas,” he said.
