Build Them Both – Protect American Trade
Written by Build Them Both | Mar.11, 2010
Politico reports, this morning, that the President has asked Boeing CEO Jim McNerney to co-chair the revived President’s Export Council which it calls the “principal private sector advisory committee on international trade.” Given European outrage over the decision by Northrop/EADS to pull out of the tanker competition due to what both companies claim is a biased RFP, perhaps the President and McNerney should seriously discuss building them both.
Think about it.
American defense contractors (and their workers) rely very heavily on exports. Refusing to allow overseas defense manufacturers to compete for U.S. market share provides European countries and others an incentive to stop buying U.S. products. That means fewer jobs for Americans.
Through a plan to Build Them Both, we reduce that incentive and protect American jobs. Better still, we create 100,000 American jobs by providing new tankers more quickly and at a lower cost than through a sole-source contract.
