When the stimulus bill was being crafted, I wrote three posts lamenting the protectionist Buy American provision attached to the bill.

‘Buy American’ will translate into a 21st century Smoot-Hawley
The U.S. is exporting unemployment with ‘Buy America’
Canada is furious about U.S. protectonism

The last of these three demonstrated that the provision was needlessly creating lots of ill [...]

Roland Koch, the leader of the German state of Hesse, has dismissed the possibility of Chinese auto manufacturer BAIC acquiring German carmaker Opel.  Below is my translation of today’s Spiegel article explaining this.
Clear rejection of the Chinese: Hesse Prime Minister Koch has rejected the takeover offer for Opel by the car manufacturer BAIC. If someone [...]

Rio Tinto was one of those companies which levered up just as the economy was turning down, rushing its bottom line ad forcing it into the hands of Chinalco, a large Chinese commodities company.  However, as commodity prices have turned up and investors have simultaneously started buying shares, Rio was able to escape the Chinalco [...]

During the Great Depression, it was the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, which in hindsight is blamed for triggering a wave of protectionist actions globally.  Protectionism was a major contributor to the downward spiral that created depression.  So, have we avoided this kind of outcome this go around?
At this juncture, it is pretty unclear we have. Simmering [...]

This comes via the Financial Times:
China has introduced an explicit “Buy Chinese” policy as part of its economic stimulus programme in a move that will amplify tensions with trade partners and increase the likelihood of protectionism around the world.
In an edict released jointly by nine government departments, Beijing said government procurement must use only Chinese [...]

I plan to visit Mexico early next month as I do at least one or twice every year. This year I question what awaits me as evidence that Mexico’s economy and civil order is imploding mount. The latest strike against Mexico comes in its now escalating trade war with the United States.

The “Buy American” clause stuck onto the stimulus bill wending its way through Congress is a pernicious piece of legislation because it has engendered a ferocious response from trading partners, not the least of which is Canada.

Below is a Wall Street Journal video clip discussing this piece of legislation and the Canadian reaction to it. In addition, the video rightly claims that the bailouts now being conducted for financial services industries around the world are subsidies that are equally protectionist. None of this bodes well for the global economy.

Everyone should be concerned about the increasing tone of trade friction in the global economy. While Chinese Premier Wen and U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown are setting a positive tone in London today regarding bilateral trade agreements, the U.S. is doing its best to put off trading partners. In fact, in Canada, there seems to be a lot of rancor regarding the ‘Buy America’ provision now being attached to the U.S. stimulus package.

Politicians in Washington D.c. have cooked up a nice way to re-create the mistakes of the Great Depression by attaching a ‘Buy American’ provision onto the stimulus bill making its way through Congress. Apparently the Canadians and Europeans have already voiced their concerns, with the Europeans threatening to retaliate.

You heard the quotes (China slams U.S. profligacy). Here’s the video. After some brief introductory remarks Chinese Premier Wen gets down to ripping into the United States.

If you want to get right to his most quotable remarks, they begin right about 6:00 in this long video. Definitely worth watching.