The final stimulus bill that emerged on Capitol Hill on Friday may have been portrayed by Barack Obama, US president, as a success for the economy. But finance ministers from the Group of Seven meeting in Rome on Friday will remain concerned about the protectionist signals it may be sending.

Apart from the Buy American provisions restricting government spending to US companies, other items in the bill could also give cause for alarm. An amendment proposed by Bernie Sanders, a leftist independent senator for Vermont, and Charles Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, would restrict the use of foreign worker visas by financial institutions being bailed out by the federal government.