I've been following the debate on the "Buy American" clauses in the House and Senate stimulus bills. I've heard a number of arguments against the clause (possible violation of WTO rules, may not create that many jobs, might set off a trade war - whatever that might entail), but can't find many arguments in favor of the clauses. The closest thing to an argument in favor is from Paul Krugman (Here's ya link: http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/01/protectionism-and-stimulus-wonkish/) who also throws in a number of cons for good measure.
Are the "buy american" clauses likely to make ANY discernible difference in the manufacturing sector, or at least U.S. steel (which I understand is the main target of the clauses)? Another question I have is, exactly how much damage are we doing to foreign exporters buy inserting the clause in the stim package? It's interesting to watch the Republicans go to the mat for European industrialists, given that the Republican platform for some time now seems like it could have been summed with the words "Screw Europe."