As Americans, we love to tout our American-made products. Whether it’s the automobile, construction materials or our clothing, housewares or little knick-knacks we pick up as souvenirs while traveling the country, the whole “Buy American” slogan is more than just a popular phrase, it’s been a large part of political campaigns for decades. Whether it’s “Made in the U.S.A.” or “Support American workers” we hear politicians, including our current President Donald Trump, talk over and over about how they’ll be the one to put American workers first. They’ll be the one to be the champion for American-made products. Earlier this month, we found out that the massive $400 million ballroom that Trump demolished the East Wing of the White House to build won’t be made of American steel, produced by American workers. Instead, the steel will come from Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal, the world’s second-largest steelmaker, and according to the New York Times, which broke the story, the European company will donate that $37 million worth of steel to build the controversial ballroom. I get that many of you will say, “What’s the big deal, it’s being donated?” And that’s true — just like Trump has said his ballroom won’t cost us taxpayers a dime since everything is being donated for its construction. But if that’s really how you feel, I wonder if you’re the same type of person who says there’s no such thing as a free lunch when you read a story about how your taxes are providing free school lunches to underprivileged students or if you say nothing is free when there’s a no-cost health clinic that opens up in your community. Do you really think donors of this $400 million ballroom are just donating their materials or services for free without any expectation in return? Oh, before I forget, I should mention that Trump’s announcement of the ArcelorMittal steel donation came just days before the White House made adjustments to its tariffs that could benefit ArcelorMittal, by cutting in half the tariffs applied to exports of automotive steel from its Canadian plant. I suppose some may argue that a U.S.-based steel company could have donated the steel to be used for the construction, but to that I’d say why should a U.S. company have to donate anything and take a hit on their bottom line? Should defense contractors donate weapons to the government? Should concrete and asphalt makers also donate their products to update our roads, highways and bridges? If you own a business, should you just donate your products or services to the government? Many hard-working American workers voted for Trump because they were sold on his pro-American worker, American-made message. They also were supportive of his tariffs on steel, which were seen as a boost for the U.S. steel industry, but 15 months into Trump 2.0, it’s hard to say just how much the tariffs have helped the domestic steel companies since cheap steel from other countries have driven up the costs here at home and many steel workers have lost their jobs. Trump campaigned hard on the idea that American steel comes first, yet he’s taking “free” steel from other countries and turning his back on American steel workers. So it begs the question: Does free always mean free? And does “buy American” or “Support American workers” really mean anything these days, or is it just talk? Rachel Brougham is the former assistant editor of the Petoskey News-Review. You can email her at racheldbrougham@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Does ‘buy American’ mean anything these days? | Opinion
Reporting by Rachel Brougham, Community Columnist / The Petoskey News-Review
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
