After reviewing various metrics, balance sheets, management issues, and businesses, today I thought I would look further and discuss foreign competition, as well as other influences and issues outside the United States.

In my original post, I mentioned that Williams has all its resources in North America and that this bodes well in case we were affected by political instability near the proven reserves of our large multinationals. In a later post, I mentioned that I thought Williams would be a good acquisition for Berkshire Hathaway.

"My pal Warren" has been focused on buying utilities and energy companies for years, and more recently railroads. I think Williams actually combines the strengths of both.

The utility or energy aspect is obvious, but here is why it is like the railroads. Williams has more than 14,000 miles of interstate pipelines. Like the railroads, that requires negotiating rights-of-way, which is complicated and time consuming. Its pipelines serve specific geographic areas and have quasi-monopolies, just like the railroads.

Another wonderful thing is that a foreign company cannot compete with the Williams distribution system. You cannot import something so large and fixed to the land like you can an object such as a car or technology like solar collectors. The pipe manufacturers and suppliers may have to deal with this, but Williams does not. And Williams cannot physically separate itself from the United States even if a foreign national were to buy it.

Now lets look at the other companies in our mix. All of them have foreign competition. All of them are influenced by foreign demands. Google had to agree to Chinese censorship. Apple manufactures its products in Asia. Microsoft has its products being pirated all over the world and is under constant harassment from the European Union. Berkshire Hathaway is being scrutinized by the Chinese government related to its agreement to invest in and acquire a 10% interest in BYD, the Chinese battery and car conglomerate.

As investments go, if you want to keep your dollars in the United States, employing Americans, providing services to Americans, improving our infrastructure while earning a dividend, with little risk of being leveraged by outside influences, then Williams is superior to the other companies in this regard as well.

I should point out that I am in favor of international trade and view the world globally, but from an investment standpoint, I fervently believe that we are not doing enough to fight for a level playing field. We have foreign interests taking major positions in our companies with little or no scrutiny, and we should receive similar reciprocal treatment.

Previous posts:
Serious Money: Better than Apple, Google, Microsoft & Berkshire Hathaway, Part 1 and Part 2 and Part 3

Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the principal for design and research at an architecture & planning firm. He writes the columns Chasing Value and Serious Money. Disclosure: I own shares of BRK.B and WMB shares and options.