The Toronto Star reports that, “There has been a breakthrough in talks between Ottawa and Washington aimed at resolving a dispute over a protectionist U.S. policy known as Buy America, according to a source close to the negotiations.”
“A tentative deal is ready to go to the desks of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President Barack Obama…”
“Negotiators are expected to meet behind closed doors again next week in Washington to iron out final details of the tentative package.”
“The U.S. government would like to see political approval for the deal in place in Canada by the third week in December so that the Obama administration could move as quickly as possible to win approval in Washington.”
“The compromise would for the first time guarantee that U.S. manufacturers could bid on supply contracts being awarded by provincial and municipal governments in Canada, the source said.”
The deal “would for the most part eliminate the provinces’ and municipal governments’ ability to favour local companies on bids for procurement contracts.”
To respond to our ‘ACTION ALERT: Oppose the Canada-US procurement deal now being negotiated’, please go to http://canadians.org/action/2009/05-Oct-09.html.
To read a statement in support of public procurement – signed by the Council of Canadians and numerous other organizations – go to http://canadians.org/trade/issues/NAFTA/procurement_statement.html.
The Toronto Star report is at http://www.thestar.com/mobile/news/canada/article/734439–deal-close-on-buy-usa-with-strings-attached.
