The United States and Canada signed a trade agreement on Feb. 12 that seeks to address concerns over “Buy American” provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as well as other long-standing procurement issues between the two nations.
U.S. Trade Rep. Ron Kirk says that the deal will result in “tens of billions of dollars” in new job-supporting contracts for U.S. firms. “For years, U.S. firms have sought market access to Canadian provincial procurement under the World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement [GPA], which Canada resisted,” Kirk adds.