Top Trump agency purges over 20 suspected China-linked products from federal marketplace
The Small Business Administration (SBA), in collaboration with the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), is removing nearly two dozen foreign products from its official catalog that supplies government agencies, citing...
By Fox News · Fox News
The Small Business Administration (SBA), in collaboration with the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), is removing nearly two dozen foreign products from its official catalog that supplies government agencies, citing fears that some of them may be misrepresenting their sourcing. Kelly Loeffler, SBA administrator, raised concerns that China-based companies were falsely marketing their products as "made in America" on the Advantage! platform — a listing service the government uses to connect vendors with agencies. "As part of our commitment to rebuilding American industry and supply chains, the Trump SBA believes that every taxpayer dollar spent by the federal government should go to support American businesses, workers and products," Loeffler said. SBA’s crackdown furthers efforts by the Trump administration to double down on American manufacturing and aims to reduce the risk associated with purchasing or implementing compromised China-sourced goods. REPUBLICANS LOOK TO STOP CHINA'S 'BACKDOOR' TARIFF DODGING SCHEME The concerns first arose at the White House Small Business Summit where a New York-based small business, Sherrill Manufacturing, communicated suspicions to SBA that China-based companies were only partially assembling or finishing their products in the U.S. Sherrill, according to the SBA, is the only manufacturer of stainless steel flatware that is 100% made in America. "When foreign companies were caught falsely claiming ‘Made in America’ status in the federal procurement system, President Trump directed the SBA and GSA to take aggressive action," Loeffler said. Even in his first term, Trump used executive orders to maximize the use of domestically sourced raw materials such as iron, aluminum and cement. He issued a similar executive order earlier this year. INTEL RIVAL SKYWATER PITCHES ITSELF AS ALL-AMERICAN FIRM AS TRUMP MULLS MORE EQUITY DEALS But sourcing protections for federal materials didn’t start with him. For security reasons, the Berry…