By: Team Sherrod

Sherrod is proud of Ohio workers each time he dons one of his Hart Schaffner Marx suits made in Brooklyn, Ohio just miles from his home. Today, TIME profiled Sherrod’s long-standing support for Buy America policies that support U.S. jobs, saying Sherrod’s “commitment to American manufacturing begins with the clothes he wears every day.”

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TIME: President Trump Talks ‘America First,’ But Sherrod Brown Wears It

Abby Vesoulis – July 11, 2018

Key Points: 

• President Donald Trump talks a lot about his “America First” policies. As president, he’s called for boycotts of companies that send production overseas, imposed tariffs intended to protect American manufacturers and launched a trade war with China. But when it comes time to get dressed, the president has long favored Italian suits.
• For Sen. Sherrod Brown, who shares Trump’s skepticism of free trade deals, a similar commitment to American manufacturing begins with the clothes he wears every day.
• The Ohio Democrat buys all of his suits from the Keystone Tailored Manufacturing plant located about ten miles away from his Cleveland-area home. The factory sews and assembles suits for seven different lines, including Hart Schaffner Marx, Brown’s favorite brand.
• Twice, he’s helped in negotiations that kept the Brooklyn, Ohio, factory afloat amid concerns of shrinking profit margins and broader trends to outsource manufacturing to countries where labor is cheaper. The most recent deal, from which W. Diamond Group purchased the facility to continue producing American-made suits, saved the jobs of more than 160 workers.
• It’s not just clothes, either. Brown’s family cars and even the lapel pin he wears on his union-made suits are also from Ohio.
• Brown told TIME that he thinks that politicians who have platforms committed to buy-American policies, such as the president, should also walk the walk when it comes downs to their own clothes.
• Although he is a liberal Democrat who differs from Trump on a number of issues, Brown has long held similar views about protecting domestic manufacturing. He has introduced bipartisan legislation to apply buy-America rules to all taxpayer-funded infrastructure projects. He’s also reintroduced the All-American Flag Act, which requires the federal government only buy flags that are American-made. As of yet, the federal government is only required to purchase flags made from 50% American-made materials.

Read the full article here.