President Joe Biden on Monday will sign an executive order aimed at pushing the federal government to buy more goods produced in the United States, a key part of his campaign pledge to revive domestic manufacturing.
The executive order will call for increasing the amount of U.S. content that must be in a product for it to be considered made in America under existing “Buy American” requirements. It will also create a website where American businesses can see what contracts are being awarded to foreign vendors, and a position at the White House Office of Management and Budget tasked with implementing Biden’s push on federal procurement, among other measures.
The order reflects in part the shifting consensus in American politics away from free trade and toward direct government intervention to promote U.S. producers and manufacturers, a position former president Donald Trump embraced as well. The pandemic has intensified calls for the United States to shore up its domestic manufacturing capabilities, given gaps in the medical supply chain during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic that left U.S. medical workers scrambling for personal protective equipment.
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