Manufacturing groups, and even some allies, say now’s not the right time to be protectionist. The need to produce weapons for Israel is stretching the defense industry as it races to arm Ukraine and Taiwan. President Joe Biden and an influential bloc of lawmakers from both parties want more U.S. military hardware to be made in America. But the defense industry — the beneficiary of the movement — says now is the wrong time.
Supply chain problems, towering global demands for weapons and the need to work with allies to get it all done means that the America First movement should wait. The “Buy American” campaign, fueled by the promise of a domestic manufacturing boom and well-paying jobs right here at home, is gaining steam in Congress. Both versions of the can’t-fail National Defense Authorization Act contain provisions that require a certain percentage of American weapons be made domestically. Yet the politics is crashing into the reality facing the defense industr