Norwich -- U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy said Friday that he fears the two major trade agreements Congress has fast tracked could lead to the gutting of "Buy American" legislation that helps protect Connecticut manufacturing jobs.

Murphy, addressing about 100 people at a breakfast meeting of the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut, said tentative trade agreements with European and Asian nations include language that would give companies from signatory countries the right to have their products considered as American-made even though they might be manufactured half a world away.

This is important, the Connecticut Democrat said during a speech at Holiday Inn Norwich, because federal law he helped update requires agencies such as the Department of Defense and Department of Transportation to buy at least half of their products from American companies. If foreign firms are considered American companies for the sake of foreign trade, the whole idea of "Buy American" goes by the wayside, he said, and the defense supply chain in the state would be hit hard.

"It effectively renders the ‘Buy American’ law obsolete," he said.

Speaking later at a meeting of the Eastern Advanced Manufacturing Alliance in Franklin, Murphy cited the case of Colonial Bronze in Torrington that lost out on a Department of Defense contract for knobs and handles at a U.S. Army barracks in Alaska because no one bothered to search the Internet for American manufacturers of the products.

Murphy said the federal government over the past seven years has signed contracts for purchases overseas totaling about $176 billion. This huge surge of dollars into foreign coffers, he said, comes as federal agencies skirt the law by signing waivers that allow exceptions to the "Buy American" rule if, for instance, U.S. suppliers cannot be found or the cost difference is excessively high. These exceptions make sense, Murphy said, but another waiver that allows U.S. agencies to buy in foreign countries if the products are being used overseas makes less sense, especially in the past few years when defense operations in Afghanistan and Iraq meant most of federal spending could escape "Buy American" restrictions. In fact, he said 83 percent of all "Buy American" waivers were for this specific exception, leading to $5.4 billion in foreign purchases last year alone.

"The exceptions are now the rule," he said.

Murphy said he was able to successfully attach an amendment to this year’s defense-authorization bill that should help put "downward pressure" on these waivers. The amendment, he said, will require the government to track all waivers and will require agencies to provide detailed information on why exceptions were allowed for any government contract over $5 million.

The fight to keep more federal dollars from being spent overseas is particularly ironic, Murphy noted, in an environment in which the government is trying to convince more businesses to bring their manufacturing plants back to the United States.

Despite Murphy’s concern about the two trade agreements that still need to be authorized by Congress, he said he might be inclined to vote for the European Union pact, known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, because Connecticut does a significant portion of its exporting to Europe – about 40 percent. Murphy said he is less inclined to support the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement that involves Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

Murphy said neither he nor fellow Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., is opposed to free trade.

"We don’t think we’ve driven as hard a bargain as we should," Murphy said to the chamber members.

"If I end up voting against either of these trade bills it’ll be because we didn’t offer some protection (for U.S. manufacturers)," he later told the manufacturing alliance.

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Twitter: @KingstonLeeHow

Other key points from Sen. Murphy

At two appearances Friday in Norwich and Franklin, Murphy:

Praised the U.S. Supreme Court decision to uphold the validity of Obamacare, saying Congress can now focus on making fixes to the law assuming Republican challenges to the legislation are over. “It would have been a disaster if it had gone the other way,” he said.

Said he expected an $8 million TIGER grant to upgrade New England Central Rail line tracks into New London would allow local businesses to find more customers.

Called Electric Boat’s $46 million Navy contract to overhaul the USS Mt. Pelier submarine a “big win,” allowing the company to maintain a steadier workforce.

Said the Navy’s decision to move its Undersea Warfare Fighting Development Center to the U.S. Naval Submarine Base would make it more difficult for the federal government to contemplate closing the Groton base in another BRAC round.

Pointed out that there has been no long-term extension of the Federal Transportation Fund in years, which has meant major projects such as replacing the rail bridge over the Connecticut River between Old Saybrook and Old Lyme can’t go forward. He suggested a gas-tax hike to support the fund would be a net plus for Connecticut because its taxpayers get a return of $1.60 for every dollar they pay in gas taxes.

Said he found it “offensive” that Congress has never even tried to pass a substantive overhaul of the nation’s gun laws after Sandy Hook and now Charleston, despite the fact U.S. gun fatalities are 20 times higher than any of its peer nations. “Our mental health system is an embarrassment,” he added.