Buy America: An Analysis of U.S. Domestic Preference Legislation for the North American Strategy for Competitiveness

Abstract

Every Congress since 1933 has enacted domestic preference legislation mandating that the federal government favor U.S. products in contracting. The Buy American Act of 1933 is the first and most comprehensive piece of domestic preference legislation. The Buy American Act, as well as the other forms of domestic preference legislation, gives preference to domestic goods in federal procurement. This analysis recommends implementing a policy that is politically feasible, improves economic efficiency, and does not skew the distribution of wealth among the stakeholders.