The national discussion regarding President Obama’s proposed American Jobs Act of 2011 (“Jobs Bill”) has only just begun. A key provision in the initial draft circulated by the White House is a Buy American rule which is identical to language in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (“2009 Recovery Act”).

In part, the Buy American provision states that:

[n]one of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by [the Jobs Bill] may be used for a project for the construction, alteration, maintenance or repair of a public building or public work unless all of the iron, steel, and manufactured goods used in the project are produced in the United States.

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