Obama's Protectionism - Canada and the World Get Nervous

Barack Obama's announcement of "Buy American" provisions in his $825 billion bailout package are sending shockwaves not only throughout Ottawa but is also being watched nervously throughout the world economy as nations wait and see how this first test of Canada-U.S. trade relations plays out. The provisions state that companies would only qualify for bailout aid by purchasing "U.S. made" materials for Infrastructure projects - which would result in a severe dampening of Canadian imports of steel to the U.S. The damaging effects of this type of policy were last seen in the great depression of 1929 - where similar protectionist policies delayed recovery from what should have been 2 years until the beginning of World War 2. The resulting trade war between us and our greatest trading partner would benefit neither, supporting false economies which create a greater dependence on government aid, which makes it more difficult to dig out of once the aid evaporates and industry must go back to world markets to be competitive. Apparently the lessons of history have been lost on Mr. Obama. If Obama holds to this policy with America's best trading partner, we can only expect the same hard line with the remainder of the U.S.'s trading partners - thus turning this bad downturn into something horrific which could last us a decade or longer if not reversed in short order.