May 16, 2017      5:02 PM
Canadian government descends on the Texas Senate to lobby against American steel bill
Canadians want their steel exempted; lobbying senators hard not to concur with the House; American manufacturers argue that WTO members “can favor their respective domestic suppliers over foreign suppliers”
In
a last-minute lobby effort, representatives of the Canadian government rushed
to the Texas Capitol Tuesday afternoon to lobby members of the Texas
Senate against concurring on House changes to the bill mandating
the use of American iron and steel in government construction unless a certain
threshold is met.
So,
depending on how this plays out, the Senate could be poised to buck President Donald Trump’s position on “America
first” policies when it comes to manufacturing and labor.
As
QR readers who have followed this are aware, the bill by Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, would
require the use of domestic iron and steel in taxpayer-funded construction
unless the cost of the entire project would rise more than 20 percent.
By Scott Braddock
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