INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ECONOMY. GE & CATERPILLAR OPPOSE "BUY AMERICAN"
. Mark Drajem: "GE, Caterpillar Fight ‘Buy American’ Rule in Stimulus", Bloomberg News

Interesting story from Bloomberg News:

General Electric Co. and Caterpillar Inc. are among U.S. exporters that oppose “Buy American” provisions in the $825 billion stimulus legislation, saying it might spark a trade war. The companies say that proposals pushed by companies such as U.S. Steel Corp. and Nucor Corp. to limit spending in the stimulus plan to American-made iron and steel risk igniting retaliation from other countries. “You would be creating an ample basis for countries to close their markets to U.S. products,” said Karan Bhatia, GE’s senior counsel for international law in Washington, in an interview. Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE, the world’s biggest maker of jet engines and locomotives, gets half its sales from outside the U.S. The fight presents a dilemma for President Barack Obama, who must balance demands from unions and Democrats to protect American jobs against the threat that the Buy American measure would spark protectionist measures by other countries that might deepen a global recession.