No, really: Our national defense is supported by a strong domestic manufacturing base.
Look, it’s no secret the Alliance for American Manufacturing likes the forks, knives and spoons – the flatware – made by Liberty Tabletop in upstate New York.
When we’re setting the table around here, let me tell you: American-made Liberty Tabletop is gonna be on it. We were lucky enough to get some folks from its parent company, Sherrill Manufacturing, to sit down for an interview about the flatware-manufacturing business in 2015, and then again this year for an appearance on the Manufacturing Report podcast.
Yes, we’re big fans. And so I can see why you might think AAM supports legislation put forward by Rep. Anthony Brindisi (D-NY) that would reinstate a Berry Amendment requirement that the Department of Defense (DOD) buy its stainless steel flatware from an American source. This requirement got tossed in 2007 because the DOD determined that stainless steel flatware was "… a commercial commodity little produced in the U.S. after Oneida Ltd. ceased its domestic manufacturing operations.”
But from the ashes of Oneida’s domestic manufacturing footprint rose Sherrill Manufacturing and its brand – Liberty Tabletop. It’s done so well in recent years that it and Rep. Brindisi think the specific Berry requirement for tableware should be reinstated. It’s called the Support Procurement of our Nation’s Stainless Steel Act – otherwise known as the SPOONSS Act.
Here's the reason we like Rep. Brindisi's amendment: If DOD is spending money, it should be spending it on stuff made by American workers.
Do we think American-made flatware is essential to our military readiness? Not directly, no; I guess our soldiers could go into battle with imported forks tomorrow, and that would probably be okay.
But consider the reasoning behind these kinds of procurement rules: If you strengthen the demand for American-made products, you strengthen the supply chains required to produce them. Take this example of flatware manufacturing: By setting a requirement for American-made flatware, you support that manufacturer's supply chain — which is found in the American steel industry. And if you want a healthy steel industry capable of stepping up in the event of a national emergency, you gotta keep ’em making steel. Buy America rules like the Berry Amendment do that.
The Berry Amendment is ultimately all about maintaining reliable sources for DOD needs. But it’s a bonus – a big bonus – that that kind of maintenance supports domestic manufacturers and the workers they employ.
In AAM's letter we write:
Domestic preferences in public procurement maximize the impact of taxpayer dollars by incentivizing capital investments and job creation right here at home.
It's as simple as that. Buy your flatware from Liberty Tabletop, and get this requirement back in the Berry Amendment!