The impetus to buy American dates back at least as far as the Boston Tea Party and continued after the Revolutionary War, when Americans cut back on British rum and started drinking domestically produced whiskey.
For the U.S. government, the first Buy American Act was enacted in 1933 amid the Great Depression, as lawmakers sought to bolster U.S. industry and lock in domestic supply lines for major projects such as the Hoover Dam.
In the 1980s and 1990s, “buy American” was a response to growing manufacturing competition from Asian competitors. Congress responded with the Buy America Act of 1982 to further encourage federal purchasers to look for U.S. suppliers.
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