Cisco against Buy America provisions of the $7.2B broadband stimulus fund

According to the below email, sent only hours ago by Cisco Systems Senior Director - Jeff Campbell to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Cisco is against the "Buy America" provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program.

Please keep in mind that the only reason we have been allowed to read Cisco's email is because President Obama has wisely and prudently required it according to his memorandum:

Sec. 3. Ensuring Transparency of Registered Lobbyist Communications

Thank you President Obama!

The Buy American Provisions that Cisco is Against:

Page 189

Official response from Cisco regarding its position of being against the "Buy American" Provisions:

"Cisco has advanced its position to the NTIA on the company's and the technology industry's behalf. While the company strongly supports the objectives of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, as a purely practical matter, much of the technology industry's supply chain has for decades been global in nature, whether in PC manufacturing, mobile phones, MP3 players or networking/telecommunications equipment."

The "Buy American" provisions (page 189) of the stimulous bill are mainly aimed at physical infrastructure projects, like roads and bridges, to assist the steel industry. A Senate stimulous bill in February even went so far as to suggest that all "manufactured goods" bought by taxpayers for the stimulus be produced in the U.S., which is problematic since very few electronics companies, Cisco, Dell -- but also makers of household appliances and automobiles -- do their manufacturing on U.S. soil anymore. The provisions could obviously mean that the largest electronics companies wouldn't be eligible for stimulous money.

But "Buy America" has been so controversial, that in Februrary, President Obama began backing away from it. The argument against is that it would create protectionism that would be echoed in other country's stimulous bills and that it could violate trade agreements to boot.

On the other hand, the Communications Workers of America prefers that Buy America not only be enforced for the broadband portion of the stimulous bill, but also that broadband stimulous grant recipients be required to report the number of jobs created and the wages/compensation of those jobs:

CWA: Broadband Grants Must Focus on Creating Good Jobs

Access Equipment Vendors Currently Serving the U.S. Market:

Typical Broadband System Deployment Cost Per Subscriber - Share By Cost Category:

Typical Broadband System Deployment Cost Per Subscriber, By Technology and Labor Content:

Why do you think Cisco is against the "Buy America" provisions?

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