No Early End in Sight for U.S. Tanker Dispute (
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PROTECTIONISM, RETALIATION
Some House lawmakers favor measures to protect American jobs,
although Northrop argues that its tanker plan will create 48,000 U.S.
jobs, 4,000 more than Boeing backers say will be supported by Boeing's
plan.
The Senate is more likely to resist protectionist measures, heeding
Pentagon warnings that such actions could trigger retaliation and
dampen foreign demand for U.S. weapons.
Protectionist measures could harm Boeing, which relies on foreign
suppliers to build its commercial aircraft. Even the Boeing 737 that
forms the basis of the P-8A surveillance aircraft it is building for
the Navy is built with parts from China, according to a company
spokeswoman.
The Democratic party has already seized on the protectionist issue in the 2008 presidential election.
On Monday, the Democratic National Committee again accused Sen. John McCain,
the presumptive Republican nominee, of helping to "steer a tanker
contract to a European company for which his campaign advisors then
lobbied, shipping tens of thousands of American jobs overseas."
McCain led a probe that ultimately resulted in the collapse of an
earlier Air Force deal to lease Boeing tankers, a plan auditors said
would have cost taxpayers $5 billion more than an outright purchase. A
senior Air Force official and Boeing's former finance chief served
prison time for the plan.
McCain wrote letters urging a fair and competitive bidding process, but insists that was the extent of his involvement.
Critics say the role of McCain's advisers raise an appearance of
impropriety. They point to lobbyist Thomas Loeffler, a former
Republican member of Congress from Texas who was McCain's campaign
co-chairman but resigned from the campaign after reports showed he was
also a lobbyist for EADS.
Congressional reaction to the GAO decision could also be fanned by
recent criminal charges brought by various European governments against
former Airbus officials for insider trading, said defense consultant
Jim McAleese.
(Editing by Brian Moss)
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