"At a time when President Obama is launching a massive jobs initiative, key parts of the construction project were outsourced overseas. A Chinese glass company won the contract to manufacture the special blast-resistant glass base of 1 World Trade Center. Some 250 tons of stainless steel from Germany will also be imported for the project."
...
"There was a—PPG, which is a long-standing U.S. company in Pennsylvania, had bid on this highly security-focused, blast-resistant glass. They’re experts at making it. A Chinese company that is owned essentially by the government in China came in at a very subsidized price. The Port Authority chose that contract over PPG in Pennsylvania. And as a result, the blast-resistant glass on the lower floors is coming from China.
The steel, the structural steel, is coming from Europe. And again, this is a contract that the Port Authority awarded to German firms, like Tiessen Krupp, to do the structural steel, when many steel mills in America are sitting idle and certainly could have used the business, and if they were more aggressive about seeking U.S. bids, could have been able to provide the steel for this construction."
The building has only attracted 2 tenants to date:
"One of them is the China Center, which promotes the expansion of Chinese companies in the United States..
will be seeking to locate production of—and do foreign investment in the United States, but it’s not going to be additive to our economy. It’s going to be in direct competition with our clean energy firms who do solar and wind turbines, with our electrical vehicle—electric vehicle firms, and with our industrial sector, as well. And instead of being a net benefit for the American economy—and foreign investment can be a net benefit for the American economy—this type of predatory foreign investment is actually going to make it more difficult for us to create jobs."
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/9/9/rebuilt_ground_zero_billed_as_national