Obama on 'Buy America,' NAFTA, war

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro The White House released the transcript of President Obama 's interview with the CBC (Canada) and the first question had to do with the "Buy America" clause in the stimulus. That led nicely into NAFTA, which was a campaign issue. Obama also laid out the priorities and barometers for success in Afghanistan, where Canadians play a crucial role. The president said Canadians shouldn't "be too concerned" about the "Buy America" clause. "I think that if you look at history one of the most important things during a worldwide recession of the sort that we're seeing now is that each country does not resort to 'beggar thy neighbor' policies, protectionist policies, they can end up further contracting world trade," Obama said.  But, "[M]y expectation is, is that where you have strong U.S. competitors who can sell products and services, that a lot of governors and mayors are going to want to try to find U.S. equipment or services, but that we are going to abide by ... (link)