In a March 8th letter to the U.S. Senate, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) missed some key facts on the issue of Buy America preferences.

Here’s what Rosario Palmieri of NAM had said:

“As the Senate considers amendments to S. 1813 today, the NAM believes that the long-standing Buy America provisions enacted many decades ago are appropriate and their applicability well understood. Given the difficulties that American manufacturers have had trying to comply with expanded Buy America provisions in legislation enacted in recent years and the inability of the Administration to provide clear and workable guidelines, the NAM does not support further expansion of Buy America provisions in Senate Amendment (SA) 1819, offered by Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH).”

The reality is quite different. The Brown/Merkley amendment (#1819) does not expand Buy America. Instead, it improves transparency and reporting of waivers under existing Buy America preferences for transportation projects. It also closes a “segmentation” loophole that allows avoidance of Buy America preferences and promotes unintended procurement of foreign iron, steel, and manufactured goods with our tax dollars. Together, these modest improvements will work in tandem with infrastructure investment to maximize the creation of American manufacturing jobs.

The Senate is expected to vote on the Buy America transparency amendment tomorrow.