“My thought was: what faster way to create jobs here, and bring jobs back, than if we made products in America again,” says Mr Young, 72, speaking from his district office in downtown Frederick, an hour’s drive northwest of Washington.

General government procurement accounts for more than 10 per cent of economic output in the US, according to the OECD, the Paris based group of countries that tries to promote growth. So a proliferation of Buy America bills – similar to the one supported by Mr Young, which requires Maryland to choose domestically produced products over foreign ones where possible – are barriers that European officials would like to see removed in trade talks, due to begin next month.

“What we are trying to establish in these negotiations is free trade – we’re not going to be able to do that everywhere but that is the general objective – and that means not discriminating between European goods or services and their American counterparts,” says an EU official in Washington. “This is an issue for us because in Europe we have used procurement as an instrument to open up trade between member states, and in doing that we haven’t discriminated against foreigners.”

According to the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC), a US business lobby that tracks state-level Buy America legislation, there has been a fourfold increase in such measures this year, from five bills introduced in 2012 to more than 20 in 2013. New Buy America measures were passed in Ohio last year. And this year, aside from Maryland, similar bills have come close to being approved in other states and may move forward next year. The state Senate in Maine passed its own version of Buy America this month, while Texas last month approved a bill applicable to water projects.

The flurry of Buy America bills presents a dilemma for the Obama administration in the trade talks. On one hand, US trade negotiations could use them to seek a carve-out for US procurement in retaliation for exemptions sought by the EU, such as France’s demand to protect its film industry. On the other hand, it could put the US on the defensive, making it harder for Washington to argue for more liberalisation in Europe, not just on procurement but other areas such as data privacy and agriculture.

Typically, it is the US trade representative’s job to ratchet up support among state governments to agree to trade deals but it is unclear whether that will be successful. Many trade unions, which are a critical component of the political base for Barack Obama’s Democratic party, support Buy America legislation at both the federal and the state level. They are already sceptical of trade deals and their opposition might flare up if there were an aggressive attempt to open up procurement, posing a problem for any deal to be approved on Capitol Hill.

Bob Walker, Maryland’s deputy secretary of business and economic development, says: “My personal view is you have to be very careful to balance those good intentions [to promote domestic suppliers] with what might be the negative impact on your trade with other countries.”

Back in Frederick, Mr Young’s biggest worry is not that the Maryland legislation could harm US-EU trade talks but that it needs to be tougher, citing caveats added to the final version of the bill. For instance, foreign products can be bought by the state if they are less expensive, of better quality, or more widely available than US equivalents.

Mr Young is defiant about ensuring that the bill survives as Brussels and Washington begin their negotiations. “A huge amount of countries around the world have protectionist stuff to stop us from competing,” Mr Young says. “Our biggest threat is not Europe but I do think we need balance.”

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One solution, Sirkin suggests, is not to wait for boats but to buy products made closer to home. Wal-Mart is supporting such efforts with a goal announced earlier this year to increase its purchase of goods manufactured in the United States by $50 billion over the next 10 years.

The commitment to buying more U.S.-made products tests — but ultimately supports — Wal-Mart’s famous devotion to everyday low costs, according to Michelle Gloeckler, senior vice president of Walmart home goods who is heading the manufacturing project for Walmart U.S.

“It’s important to know that while this is a U.S. manufacturing commitment it is also doing good for our business,” Gloeckler explained. “Some of the things that have come out from this are terrific technology and collaboration.”

According to Sirkin, several factors have contributed to make manufacturing efficient enough again to move to the U.S. — chiefly, steep labor inflation in China and cheaper energy in the U.S. Combined with costs for transportation, duties, and the impact of a long supply chain, Sirkin predicts costs to manufacture goods by 2015 will be less in the U.S. than in China — and gaining as more retailers and manufacturers take on a similar challenge.

“Three years ago people thought it was impossible. But today we see people moving manufacturing back to the United States,” Sirkin said. “Not because they are patriots, but because it’s good business.”

Gloeckler said Wal-Mart would endeavor to meet its commitment by growing business from its existing U.S.-based suppliers; adding new U.S. suppliers; and by buying from existing manufacturers who shift production from current facilities to the U.S.

Hanna’s Candle Co., a candle maker based in Fayetteville, Ark., did $4 million in sales at Wal-Mart stores in 2012. The partners are targeting $30 million this year, Gloeckler said.

Elsewhere in the home category, Wal-Mart added a new supplier, Georgia-based Authentic Comfort, to replace a foreign supplier of the 1.5-inch memory foam mattress pads at its stores. The change represents around 20% of the category.

“We had to prove ourselves and our product,” Michael Rothbard, president and chief executive officer of Authentic Comfort, said. “We had to show the product was unique, had meaningful benefits and could offer great value. We also had to show we were capable of meeting Wal-Mart’s needs.”

This meant improving the efficiency of its processes and changing the product to reduce costs, Rothbard said. For example, the company removed a cloth covering on its pads that translated to a $20 to $30 extra charge at retail.

Products made in the U.S. are marked with special tags at Wal-Mart and have benefited from a warm shopper reception, Gloeckler said.

“We have research that says, yes, this is an attractive proposition,” she said. “Customers will buy more because of ‘Made in the U.S.’ We even have research that says customers will pay more for ‘Made in the U.S.’ but we don’t believe they should have to.”

Other benefits of using U.S.-based suppliers include the ability to respond faster to changes in the marketplace and manage inventories and store shelves with more precision by buying in appropriate quantities.

“From an economic standpoint, [proximity to suppliers] can mean I’m able to put the product on the shelf faster when it’s moving faster, or conversely, if it’s not selling at the rate we expected, I’m not sitting on a whole warehouse of inventory because I had to fill up a [shipping] container.”

Rothbard said business with Wal-Mart has created a ripple effect, with its suppliers of materials and packaging also realizing benefits.

Gloeckler said Wal-Mart has invited state governors, economic development professionals, suppliers and other retailers to a summit later this summer to discuss opportunities to expand relationships with domestic suppliers. For now, the company is looking for U.S.-based suppliers in particular categories of goods best suited for domestic manufacturing, saying highly automated, mass-produced products are most appropriate given labor cost disparity overseas.