Feingold Releases Report Showing That Trade Agreements Undercut Domestic Preference Laws GAO Report Shows Trade Agreements Trump Federal "Buy American" Laws February 14, 2005 Washington, D.C. -- U.S. Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) today released a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report which indicates that trade agreements like NAFTA and GATT and defense procurement agreements with other nations are undercutting federal laws aimed at supporting American manufacturing. Foremost among those laws is the Buy American Act of 1933, which was enacted, as the report notes, "to create and preserve jobs for American workers" by generally requiring the federal government to buy American-made goods. The report, which was requested in February of last year, found that a number of trade and defense procurement agreements include provisions that require the federal government to waive domestic preference laws — taking business away from American manufacturers. "This GAO report shows what I have believed for years -- that Congress' record of approving bad trade agreements has undermined the very laws that Congress enacted to support American companies and American workers," Feingold said. "Congress rightly acted to support American companies when it established the Buy American Act and related laws. But Congress itself has allowed these laws to be gutted by agreeing to bad trade deals that trump our domestic preference laws." The GAO report finds that the United States government is required to give favorable treatment to certain goods from a total of 45 countries as a result of trade agreements and reciprocal defense procurement agreements. The report notes that the United States is a party to seven trade agreements, including the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the World Trade Organization's Government Procurement Agreement, that prevent the U.S. from applying domestic preference laws fully. The report also identifies 21 Department of Defense (DoD) Memoranda of Understanding that allow DoD to procure goods and services from foreign countries. This week Feingold is highlighting initiatives to help stop the hemorrhaging of American jobs. The report he released today is further evidence that our trade agreements are broken and must be fixed.

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