{"id":11324,"date":"2017-04-17T17:00:28","date_gmt":"2017-04-18T01:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/new-trump-order-extends-buy-american-and-hire-american-rules\/"},"modified":"2017-04-17T17:00:28","modified_gmt":"2017-04-18T01:00:28","slug":"new-trump-order-extends-buy-american-and-hire-american-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/new-trump-order-extends-buy-american-and-hire-american-rules\/","title":{"rendered":"New Trump Order Extends 'Buy American' And 'Hire American' Rules"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Scott Horsley<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

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\n Wipro Ltd. employees walk inside the company’s compound in January during a break at their headquarters in Bangalore, India. Top Indian IT companies are in the crosshairs of proposed changes to U.S. H-1B visas, including an executive order President Trump is expected to sign Tuesday.<\/p>\n

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Aijaz Rahi\/AP<\/p>\n

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Aijaz Rahi\/AP<\/p>\n

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President Trump is trying to put more muscle into his campaign slogan of “Buy American and Hire American” and is preparing to sign an executive order Tuesday aimed at strengthening existing government policies to support domestic products and workers.<\/p>\n

Trump is expected to sign the order during a visit to the Snap-on tool company in Kenosha, Wis.<\/p>\n

“The capability of the American middle class to make things and keep them running has been at the base of our nation’s strength since its founding,” Snap-on CEO Nicholas T. Pinchuk said in a statement. “We believe the President’s visit emphasizes the need to nurture such manufacturing strength.”<\/p>\n

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The “Buy American” portion of the executive order calls for stricter enforcement of laws requiring the federal government to buy American-made products when possible. Administration officials complain that those laws have been watered down over the years and often are sidestepped with government waivers.<\/p>\n

“Buy American” provisions also may run afoul of free trade agreements, though the White House wants to conduct a full review before seeking adjustments to those trade agreements.<\/p>\n

The “Hire American” part of the order aims to crack down on what the administration calls “abuses” of government guest-worker programs. The biggest target is the H-1B visa program, which is designed to help technology firms fill jobs requiring special skills but which critics say often is used to replace American workers with lower-paid foreign competitors.<\/p>\n