U.S. airlines' 'Buy American' duplicity

International trade and "the tariff" have always been messy issues in America's history, pitting competing interests against each other.

Britain sparked the first tea party by lowering the tariff on tea from the British East India Company in order to undersell the leaf Boston merchants were selling. The British thought "everyday low prices" would win the day, but Americans sided with their countrymen's businesses, even if it meant paying more, and Boston Harbor entered the Guinness Book of Records as largest teapot in history.

The following century, the "Tariff of Abominations" sparked the first nullification crisis. Northern states wanted to protect their budding industries against low-priced imports. The South preferred buying cheaper goods from Britain, a practice that had the added benefit of providing Britain with money to purchase Southern plantation cotton. (The relationship between free trade and slave trade has always been a close one.)

As if to underscore the historical contentiousness of trade issues, the "bombs bursting in air" immortalized in our national anthem were ignited in the War of 1812. That war was fought over international trade and itself set off a "30-year tariff war" in Congress between Northern and Southern interests.

The latest battles over trade are in the skies, and so far the bombs bursting in air are only metaphorical.

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One of the disputes pits the Big Three U.S. airlines – Delta, American and United – against foreign carriers based in the Persian Gulf, and the arguments are as convoluted as ever.

In recent years, three Persian Gulf airlines – Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways – have stepped up their flights to and from their Mideast hubs to American cities.

The Big Three American carriers are not happy. They say it's not fair they have to compete against airlines they claim are subsidized by the oil-rich governments of Dubai, Qatar and Abu Dhabi. They want Washington to freeze new flights into the U.S. and roll back the number of existing flights.

The American airlines are invoking Buy American and Hire American in their efforts to enlist U.S. government support in their battle.

Here's where it gets messy.

Boeing is America's largest exporter and the sole manufacturer of commercial aircraft.

They face stiff competition from foreign manufacturers such as Airbus and Bombardier.

The competition is not exactly fair. The European Union subsidizes Airbus to the tune of $10 billion a year. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross just slapped a 219 percent tariff on Bombardier jets in retaliation for Canadian government subsidies to the aeronautics manufacturer.

When it comes to landing rights, the Big Three like to portray themselves as defenders of the Buy American faith. When it comes to the equipment they fly, it's another story.

United Airlines just made a $45 billion deal to replace their Boeing aircraft – with Airbus jets!

And Delta, too, passed on Boeing, choosing instead to buy 125 aircraft – from Bombardier!

Meanwhile, the three Persian Gulf carriers have over 350 Boeing aircraft, worth some $130 billion, in the air and on order.

If the U.S. carriers were serious about standing up for Americans, they would put their money where their mouth is and Buy American aircraft.

Until then, you may want to join Jennifer Anniston in the shower.