Posts Tagged ‘Buy American’

COOL Online Act Benefits Consumers Better than Shop Safe Act

Monday, October 4th, 2021

As more and more American consumers turn to buying products online instead of in person at brick-and-mortar stores, they become increasingly vulnerable to counterfeit goods and are unable to determine where the products have been made.  Country of Origin information is missing from the major online platforms so consumers are unable to fellow Americans by choosing to “Buy American” for products sold online.  Without knowing Country of Origin, they are not able to boycott buying products made in China by slave labor or protest the ethnic cleansing of the Uyghurs by the Chinese government. 

Over the last two years, a few Congressional Representatives and Senators have introduced bills in Congress to address these problems and protect consumers. This year, H. R. 3429, the Shop Safe Act of 2021, was introduced on May 20, 2021 by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Internet Chairman Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr. (D-GA), Internet Ranking Member Darrell Issa (R-CA), and Representative Ben Cline (R-VA).

Senator Christopher Coons (D-DE) also introduced S. 1843, the Shop Safe Act of 2021, in the Senate on May 26, 2021. These bills would supposedly protect consumers by stopping the online sale of harmful counterfeit products.

The Press Release issued by the sponsors on May 20, 2021, states: “The SHOP SAFE Act will:

  • Establish trademark liability for online marketplace platforms when a third-party sells a counterfeit product that poses a risk to consumer health or safety and that platform does not follow certain best practices;
  • Incentivize online platforms to establish best practices such as vetting sellers to ensure their legitimacy, removing counterfeit listings, and removing sellers who repeatedly sell counterfeits; and
  • Call for online marketplaces to take steps necessary to prevent the continued sale of counterfeits by the third-party seller or face contributory liability for their actions.”

This sounds good, but the online platform has to rely on the integrity of the distributor or manufacturer in stating that the product is not counterfeit.  I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t have any confidence in China companies adhering to the “honor system.” Other concerns I have:  Does someone have to report a counterfeit product to the online platform?  How are counterfeit products identified?  Who investigates the charge? What proof has to be provided to prove a product is counterfeit?

Recently, the directors of US Inventor, Inc sent out an email to their supporters saying, “Big Tech is trying to pull a fast one again… This legislation grants immunity for trademark infringement to online selling platforms like Amazon, provided that their Chinese suppliers ‘attest’ that they ‘have taken reasonable steps to verify the authenticity of the goods’ and ‘agree not use a counterfeit mark’. Seriously…Congress is offering up a proposal to waive liability for Amazon based on their implementation of an “honor system” for their Chinese suppliers!”

I can understand the skepticism of US Inventors because one of the co-sponsors, Rep. Isa) was a co-sponsor of the America Invents Act of 2011 and two other co-sponsors voted in favor of the America Invents Act.  Readers of my articles are familiar with the harm caused by this Act.

US Inventors urged supporters not to believe the hype, stating:

  • “The SHOP SAFE Act of 2021 is HAZARDOUS to inventors, entrepreneurs, and small business.
  • The SHOP SAFE Act HURTS, not helps, intellectual property owners.” The SHOP SAFE Act limits your ability to protect your IP online.
  • The SHOP SAFE Act makes protecting your brand online harder not easier.
  • The SHOP SAFE Act lets the platforms off the hook for their misdeeds.
  • The SHOP SAFE Act hurts small business

They suggest asking yourself: “When was the last time you saw huge corporations and big special interests all support a bill containing MORE (not less) regulation? Why would the giant platforms who make more money from counterfeiting online like Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and Wish hail the SHOP SAFE Act as a cure?”

They conclude that the Shop Safe Act “does not fix the real problem” and “doesn’t close the loopholes.” Instead, “It adds a “safe harbor” for online marketplaces that lets them off the hook for legal liability.”  They say “The SHOP SAFE Act gives the online platforms and the counterfeiters MORE LOOPHOLES!  It’s “best practices” have already been tried and failed to stem the tide of pirated goods sold on sites like Amazon and eBay.”

A far better bill to protect consumers was S. 3707, the COOL Online Act, introduced by Senator Tammy Baldwin on May 13, 2020, and cosponsored by Rick Scott (R=FL), Kelly Loeffler (R-GA, and Christopher Murphy (D-CT).  While it wasn’t voted on in the 116th Congress, the provisions were included in Section 2510 of the United States Innovation and Competition Act of 2021 (S. 1260) passed on June 8, 2021 by the Senate.

The National Law Review wrote:  “The Act as passed by the Senate is virtually unchanged from the proposed legislation that we reported on. As a recap, the legislation would require that a wide variety of imported commodities sold online be accompanied by the following disclosures on the website ‘in a conspicuous place’:

  • The country of origin of the product, consistent with U.S. Customs and Borders Protection (CBP) marking requirements; and
  • The country of origin in which the seller is located (and, if applicable, the location of any parent corporation)
  • Further, the online disclosures for certain categories of goods already subject to existing specialized COOL requirements would also be required to comply with these existing requirements. Importantly, products covered by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) COOL would have to comply with AMS’s COOL requirements in the online disclosure.
  • The legislation would be enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), but would require that FTC and CBP sign a memorandum of understanding to provide for consistent implementation of the legislation.”

This legislation will now move to the House of Representatives for consideration. We can only hope that the provisions of the COOL Online Act will be added to the House version of the United States Innovation and Competition Act of 2021. 

The Coalition for a Prosperous America, of which I have been a member since 2011, supports the COOL Online Act. I have been a member of the Buy America committee since it was started two years ago.  Recently, James A. Stuber, Co-Chair of the Buy America Committee and the author of What If Things Were Made in America Again, wrote “Congress must fight to ensure that America’s families know exactly what they’re buying online with their hard-earned money. Both the House and Senate should support country-of-origin labeling for all e-commerce transactions. Anything less could potentially put American lives at risk.”

We need the help of everyone who supports rebuilding American manufacturing by encouraging more people to Buy American.  Here’s what you can do:  Call the Capitol main number (202-224-3121) and ask to speak to the office of your Representative.  Ask them to vote against the Shop Safe Act. Ask them to sponsor or co-sponsor the COOL Online Act.  If you can’t get through on the main Capitol line, call the local office.  I’ve called my Representative.  Will you?

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American Patriot Loses Battle with Cancer

Monday, February 22nd, 2021

On Sunday evening, February 14th, Curtis Ellis passed away from a long struggle with bladder cancer at the age of 67. Curtis was a true patriot and defender of liberty, who believed in all of the greatness our country and devoted much of his life to putting American first in economic policies to benefit American workers and not just Wall Street. Curtis’ career included work as a campaign manager for state and federal elections, working for Congress as a media liaison for the New York State Senate Central Staff and held a senior staff position in the U.S. House of Representatives. He had decades of experience as a journalist, producer, writer and reporter for the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Time magazine and other outlets, such as HuffPost and World Net Daily. He appeared on 60 Minutes, HBO, NBC, CNN, NPR, MSNBC, Fox Business and Fox News, as well as national and regional radio shows.

I had the pleasure of becoming one of his friends when in 2011, I was recruited to join the board of directors for the American Jobs Alliance (AJA).  Curtis functioned as the part-time Executive Director from 2011 – 2016 for AJA, an independent non-profit organization promoting American jobs and Buy American policies.

Den Black, President of AJA shared that he first met Curtis Ellis in 2004 in the Buffalo New York region when his good friend, Jack Davis, decided to run for Congress in the New York’s 26th District. He said, “Jack was under attack by the Chinese who were manufacturing his industrial electric furnace, silicon carbide, heating elements in China, and marketing these items in America at prices below Jack Davis’ cost. Curtis, who lived in Manhattan, became aware of Jack’s efforts to ‘take on the Chinese’ and offered to assist Jack with his fight against the Chinese unfair trade practices.

He added, “Jack Davis accepted Curtis’ offer to help on his campaign and based his campaign on the theme of ‘undoing’ the disastrous ‘Free Trade’ practices that had caused the hollowing out of American manufacturing since the 1970’s and 80’s. Curtis came to Buffalo and gave his all for the campaign, but unfortunately, Jack Davis lost the Congressional race.  Curtis resumed his life in Manhattan, but our passion to work to ‘undo’ the unfair trade agreements continued unabated, and we continued to stay in touch.”

He explained, “In late 2010, Curtis suggested that Jack Davis and I form the American Jobs Alliance as a non-profit with the mission to educate Americans about the negative impacts of the ‘Free Trade’ agreements, such as NAFTA, on American workers and families and promote Buy American and Hire American policies. We quickly learned that the ‘Free Trade is Good’ ideology was deeply imbedded in the seats of American power, including Wall Street, global manufacturing giants, and the Washington establishment. We realized that causing any real change was huge challenge in the early years; but Curtis never wavered in his single-minded pursuit of putting American workers first.  Curtis played a big role in the AJA effort to prevent the Tran-Pacific Partnership (TPP) from being ratified during the Obama Administration.”

He concluded, “Subsequently, Curtis carried his passion for American workers over into the Donald Trump for President campaign, but he continued to support AJA’s work and write articles for our website.  It was his idea last year to make and sell window/bumper decals saying ‘Boycott China for Jobs, Human Rights, Peace.’ All working Americans owe a huge debt of gratitude for his steadfast, single-minded, efforts on their behalf over the decades.”

After years of interaction on the AJA board and private phone conversations, I finally got the opportunity to spend time with Curtis when I attended the annual trade conference in Washington, D. C. put on by the Coalition for a Prosperous in March of 2017. Curtis was then working as a special advisor to the Secretary of Labor as part of President Trump’s transition team after working on the presidential campaign.  He went back to work full-time as communications consultant and senior policy adviser with America First Policies after his responsibilities on the transition team were finished in September 2017. 

Another board member of AJA, Greg Autry, co-author of Death by China and former NASA White House Liaison under President Trump, wrote me the following after I notified him that Curtis had died: “I’m proud to have been able to work with Curtis Ellis for more than a decade in support of American manufacturing jobs and our nation’s future. Curtis was a tough, straight talking man of action with a heart of gold. He genuinely cared about the outcomes for workers, business owners, and those living under the boot heel of China’s authoritarian regime. In the long, hard fight over trade reform, Curtis was always there with a good idea and a supportive comment.” 

On February 15th, World Net Daily founder Joseph Farah published an eulogy, “Farewell fellow Traveler, Curtis Ellis.”  You can readd his full article here.  Farah had known Curtis from when they were both about 16 years old and were left-leaning radical revolutionaries. He reconnected with Curtis several years ago when he was working as a senior policy adviser for America First Policies. Curtis Ellis began writing a weekly exclusive column for WND in 2014, and Farah said “He will be missed.”

On Monday, February 15th, radio talk show host John Fredericks gave his own testimony on his friend Curtis Ellis in the first hour and then had their mutual friend, Steve Bannon (War Room podcasts) as a guest on his show during the second hour.  John called Curtis an “American prophet” and said “he had the greatest sense of humor. I had him on my show nearly every week for ten years, and every time I was with him, he made me laugh.”

Bannon said, “Curtis had a hand on the pulse of labor which most conservatists don’t.  He was the first guy that laid down the planks and fundamental elements of economic nationalism that truly drive the agenda. There are tens of thousands of workers going to plants and factories that have jobs because of the policies and thinking of Curtis that were put in place. He will be remembered in history. Curtis was a legendary guy in the Trump movement.  Peter Navarro and Curtis put together the whole economic program that President Trump ran on. He was critical to the 2016 campaign. He always put the American worker first. He was a deep thinker and also an activist.

In the administration, Navarro worked on the inside and Curtis stayed on the outside to work the PACs and policy institutions. He was very early on about the CCP. He understood the world economy and the globalization project, and because he was so close to labor, he understood that the globalization project was built on the backs of slave labor in China and would turn American workers and Western Europe Union into ‘Russian serfs.’ He was relentless and because he was relentless, he cut across the grain, which is why he never had support from the ‘establishment.’  He was one of the first guys to recognize that and the first to point out ‘free trade’ was a fallacy because of the mercantilist, totalitarian dictatorship in. China. He called out the Chinese Communist part, Wall Street, and the City of London.  He had a major impact on where we are.”

Michael Stumo, CEO of the Coalition for a Prosperous America, wrote me “Curtis was one of the only political campaign managers to focus upon returning jobs and industry to America. He worked as both a Democrat and a Republican because party affiliation was secondary to his values. Curtis blazed the trail that became both Make America Great Again and Build Back Better. He was one of the very talented few who could quickly transform a complicated economic topic into an easily understandable and compelling narrative that could motivate people to act. Curtis will be missed.”

Curtis had a love affair with America and believed that we have to fight to save America to create jobs and prosperity. We need to “up our game” and bring higher paying manufacturing jobs back to America.  This is the best way we can honor his memory and carry on the torch. I will continue to work to do my part by writing and speaking to honor his memory.

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Comparing Trump’s and Biden’s Policies that Support Rebuilding American Manufacturing

Tuesday, October 20th, 2020

For those of us who support the Made in America/Buy American movement and want to rebuild American manufacturing by returning manufacturing to America through reshoring from China, it’s important to consider the policies of President Trump and former V.P. Biden in their bid to be president.  Two policies, tax rates and the cost and availability of energy, have a major effect on where a company chooses to locate their manufacturing or headquarters if they have multiple plants globally. If the corporation has a plant in a country with a lower tax rate, they may choose to shift their profits to the subsidiary in that country.  Bulgaria and the Czech Republic at 10% and Ireland at 12.5% have the lowest corporate tax rates in Europe. American manufacturers that don’t have plants in other countries face the brunt of the tax burden. Personal tax rates are also important as only 30-35% of manufacturers are C corporations; the others are LLCs, partnerships or sole proprietorships where taxes are passed through to the owner(s).

Taxes

Biden’s Tax Policies:

  • Raise the corporate tax rate to 28%.
  • Require a true minimum tax of 21% on ALL foreign earnings of United States companies located overseas (double the current rate). 
  • Impose a tax penalty on corporations that ship jobs overseas in order to sell products back to America.
  • Impose a 15% minimum tax on book income so that no corporation gets away with paying no taxes.
  • Raise the top individual income rate back to 39.6%.
  • Require those making more than $1 million to pay the same rate on investment income that they do on their wages.

Trump’s Tax Policies:

The U.S. had a corporate tax rate ranging from a low of 15% to a high of 35% until the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) was passed by Congress on December 20, 2017, which reduced the corporate tax rate to flat tax of 21%. TCJA also cut capital gains tax to 15 % and increased the estate tax basic exemption amount from $5 million to $10 million.

President Trump’s tax policy platform for re-election focuses largely on promoting and preserving the tax cuts of TCJA and making various tax rate reductions scheduled to expire in 2025 permanent.  Before the Republican convention, his campaign released his agenda, which included:

  • Cutting taxes “to boost take-home pay and keep jobs in America”
  • Enacting “Made in America” tax credits
  • Expanding opportunity zones
  • Enacting new tax credits “for companies that bring back jobs from China
  • Permitting 100% expensing “for essential industries like pharmaceuticals and robotics that bring their manufacturing back to the United States.”

Energy

Biden’s Policies:

Biden’s campaign website.states that he plans to “Move ambitiously to generate clean, American-made electricity to achieve a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035. This will enable us to meet the existential threat of climate change while creating millions of jobs…”

His plan is for America to achieve a 100% clean energy target by means of:

  • advanced nuclear reactors, that are smaller, safer, and more efficient at half the construction cost of today’s reactors;
  • refrigeration and air conditioning using refrigerants with no global warming potential;
  • using renewables to produce carbon-free hydrogen at a lower cost than hydrogen from shale gas through innovation in technologies like next generation electrolyzers;
  • decarbonizing industrial heat needed to make steel, concrete, and chemicals and reimagining carbon-neutral construction materials
  • leveraging research in soil management, plant biologies, and agricultural techniques to remove carbon dioxide from the air and store it in the ground; and
  • capturing carbon dioxide through direct air capture systems and retrofits to existing industrial and power plant exhausts, followed by permanently sequestering it deep underground or using it to make alternative products like cement.”

Trump’s Policies:

  • Since he took office, President Trump has rolled back hundreds of environmental protections, including limits on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and vehicles, and protections for federal waterways across the country, fulfilling a campaign promise from 2016.
  • On June 1, 2017, Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, saying the deal disadvantaged the US “to the exclusive benefit of other countries.”
  • His administration approved oil and gas drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which has been off-limits for drilling for decades.
  • President Trump supports development of all forms of energy without subsidies, including production of natural gas through fracking

Trade/Tariffs

Biden’s Policies

  • Take aggressive trade enforcement actions against China or any other country seeking to undercut American manufacturing through unfair practices, including currency manipulation, anti-competitive dumping, state-owned company abuses, or unfair subsidies.
  • Rally our allies in a coordinated effort to pressure the Chinese government and other trade abusers to follow the rules and hold them to account when they do not.
  • Confront foreign efforts to steal American intellectual property.
  • Address state-sponsored cyber espionage against American companies.
  • Apply a carbon adjustment fee against countries that are failing to meet their climate and environmental obligations to make sure that they are forced to internalize the environmental costs they’re now imposing on the rest of the world.

Trump’s Policies:

  • On January 23, 2017, Trump signed an order to withdraw from further negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
  • On September 2, 2017, Trump instructed aides to withdraw from the U.S. trade agreement with South Korea and later renegotiated a better trade agreement.
  • On August 16, 2017, the Trump administration began renegotiating NAFTA with Canada and Mexico. NAFTA was replaced with the new United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA), signed on November 30, 2018.
  • On January 22, 2018, Trump imposed tariffs and quotas on imported solar panels and washing machines.
  • ? On March 1, 2018, he announced a 25% tariff on steel imports and a 10% tariff on aluminum.
  • On April 3, 2018, Trump announced 25% tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese imported electronics, aerospace, and machinery.
  • On April 6, 2018, Trump announced tariffs on $100 billion more of Chinese imports.
  • On October 7, 2019 the United States and Japan signed two agreements intended to liberalize bilateral trade. The U.S.- Japan Trade Agreement (USJTA) provides for limited tariff reductions and quota expansions to improve market access.
  •  On January 15, 2020, President Trump and Vice Premier Liu H of China the US–China Phase One trade deal in Washington DC.

Buy American/Made in America

Biden’s Policies:

  • Make a $400 billion Procurement Investment in American products, materials, and services and ensure that they are shipped on U.S.-flagged cargo carriers.
  • Retool and Revitalize American Manufacturers, with a particular focus on smaller manufacturers and those owned by women and people of color, through specific incentives, additional resources, and new financing tools.
  • Make a New $300 Billion Investment in Research and Development (R&D) and Breakthrough Technologies 
  • Bring Back Critical Supply Chains to America so we aren’t dependent on China or any other country for the production of critical goods in a crisis.
  • Tighten domestic content rules to require more legitimate American content
  • Crack down on waivers to Buy American requirements by federal Agencies
  • End false advertising by companies that label products as Made in America even if they’re coming from China or elsewhere
  • Strengthen and enforce Buy America provisions
  • Update international trade rules and associated domestic regulations for Buy American

Trump’s Policies:

Trump’s campaign slogan revolves around continuing his promise to Make America Great Again. One of the ways is to rebuild American manufacturing and create higher paying jobs. He uses protectionism to defend U.S. industries from foreign competition. According to the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), the U.S. manufacturing sector, added about 450,000 workers during the first three years of Trump’s presidency before the pandemic. Here are some of the actions he has taken as President.

President Trump’s campaign website also lists the following goals for his next term:

  • Reduce U.S. dependence on Chinese manufacturing and bring back 1 Million Manufacturing Jobs from China
  • No Federal Contracts for Companies who Outsource to China
  • Grant tax credits to companies that move manufacturing back to United States; tariffs on those that don’t.

Remember that actions speak louder than words, so be sure to compare what a candidate has done and not just what they promise to do in their campaign platform. Be sure to vote. The future of our country is at stake.

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