GREEN COVE SPRINGS – The Board of County Commissioners are looking into a purchasing policy change that would give priority to American companies over foreign goods.

Commissioner Gavin Rollins began discussion about a Buy American Act during the May 12 BCC meeting to discuss the possibility of enacting it with his fellow commissioners before asking county staff to put hours into constructing such a policy. Rollins said the act would work similarly to the current purchasing policy that prioritizes local Clay County goods and services.

“In the same way we have preference for local goods for purchasing policy, we should add something for American goods,” Rollins said.

Rollins said if an American company’s bids or goods are within a 5% difference of the lowest bid – the county must take the lowest bid – then the county would go forward with the American product or service. If the difference is larger than 5%, the county then would go with the foreign bidder. The bill simply would prioritize American goods, Rollins said.

Rollins wants to include a ban on Chinese telecommunication products and services within the act.

“What I’d like to do is basically take [a] federal law that’s already vetted...and use it,” Rollins said. “It’s about concerns for our intelligence that China could tap technology for spying purposes.”

The commissioner said this would be a security measure if passed and that the federal government already has a list of Chinese telecommunication companies with products and services that can’t be purchased with federal funds. It’s essentially taking a federal policy and making it a local one, Rollins said.

Chairman Gayward Hendry said the act in Clay County is long overdue. The BCC came to the consensus that county staff should work toward making it an official policy to be voted on by the BCC at a later date, provided it’s not too stringent.

“Leeway and flexibility,” Rollins said. “I’ll work with staff...to bring back a policy simple enough that days are spent trying to figure out an American solution. The general idea is that we signal that Clay County supports bringing a lot of manufacturing back home.”