Local Content Requirements: Backdoor Protectionism Spreading Under the Radar

Local content requirements (LCRs), or more broadly “localization rules,” have become a popular protectionist tool to favor domestic industries over foreign competitors. Classic LCRs span from the requirement to purchase a certain percentage of domestic goods—e.g., the United States’ notorious “Buy America” [PDF] statutes—or to produce locally, to requirements that services use only local infrastructure, to conditions on doing business like technology transfer to local companies. Empirical analys

Source: Peterson Institute (PIIE)