>
>"Pursuant to the NIH Revitalization Act, section 2004, when
>purchasing equipment or products under this assistance
>award, the recipient should, whenever possible, purchase
>only American-made items".
>
>Does this mean that I am restricted to Bio-Rad or Molecular
>Dynamics, or can I buy another instrument as long as I
>can justify the purchase on the basis of scientific goals?
>
Herbert M. Geller
 
Herbert,
Again, I have no knowledge of the US system but the Oz Government had for
many years an Aust and New Zealand Preference Agreement which sounds
similar to yours.  It may be of some help to realise that even if you
purchase equipment which is totally manufactured off-shore you are still
supporting the domestic economy. Eg: a confocal isn't just a lump of glass
and metal with a few local electrons and photons thrown in, it includes
your whole domestic dealer system who provide training, hard- and software
backup often at quite significant expense (read benefit to the local
economy).  The NIH may consider it quite reasonable to include these
domestic expenses (including a life-of-instrument maintenance contract) as
part of the purchase price.
We used this logic to successfully inject some common sense into scientific
equipment purchases down under.  Cheers,
Eric Hines.