Biden Is Expected To Sign An Executive Order To ‘Buy American’ In An Effort To Improve The Economy And Create More Jobs

On the campaign trail, then-Presidential hopeful Joe Biden boldly laid out his Americentric economic plan to reinvigorate the pandemic-impacted United States economy. He stood out from the crowded field of candidates—who were arguing over social-related agendas—by proposing a massive $700 billion plan to bolster the U.S. economy and fulfill his “Build Back Better” program.

Biden’s economic program included allocating $400 billion toward buying U.S. products and services to spur job growth and reinvigorate manufacturing. Another $300 billion would be spent on new research and development, primarily in U.S. technologies. Biden also called for “Buy American” legislation.

At the time, the presumptive Democratic nominee’s campaign manager said, “Biden’s comprehensive manufacturing and innovation strategy will marshall the resources of the federal government in ways that we have not seen since World War II.” The goal, in part, is to help Americans by creating about five million new jobs.

His proposals were designed to cut down on America’s reliance on foreign countries. The pandemic laid bare our nation’s dependence on receiving medical supplies, pharmaceuticals and important goods from China and other foreign countries. As the supply chain was disrupted, it revealed a big weakness in that we couldn’t get mission-critical products at a time that it was most needed.

It is expected that Biden will sign an executive order on Monday to fulfill his campaign promise to “Buy American.” This order is intended to strengthen the lagging manufacturing sector in the U.S., in large part through federal procurement.

The executive order will call for government agencies to “strengthen requirements about purchasing products and services from U.S. workers and businesses, cut some red tape and create a position in the Office of Management and Budget responsible for enforcing the directive.”

Last week, Biden, in a move to swiftly turn around the fortunes of the U.S., signed executive orders “to provide a stopgap measure of financial relief to millions of Americans.”

The orders called for an increase in food aid, the protection of Americans collecting unemployment and outlining a “clear path for federal workers and contractors to get a $15 hourly minimum wage,” with the intended goal of getting corporations to increase minimum wages as well.

This immediate measure was meant to get things started “while Congress begins to consider his much larger $1.9 trillion package to help those affected by the [Covid-19] pandemic.” His large proposal necessitates going through congressional approval, and Friday’s executive orders can be immediately put in place without legislation required.

Biden’s economic rescue package “amounts to $400 billion for Covid-19 management, more than $1 trillion in direct relief spending and $440 billion for communities and businesses.” It is twice as high as the previous financial stimulus program.

It’s encouraging to see Biden immediately focusing on restarting the economy and helping Americans get back to work.