<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><a href="http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2013/03/03/john-ivison-trans-pacific-partnership-talks-provide-opportunity-to-put-an-end-to-buy-american-protectionism/">http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2013/03/03/john-ivison-trans-pacific-partnership-talks-provide-opportunity-to-put-an-end-to-buy-american-protectionism/</a></div><div><br></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'helvetica neue', helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; "><h1 class="npStoryTitle" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: PostSansMedium, arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1em; font-size: 40px; font: normal normal normal 54px/1.25em PostSerifLight, georgia, 'times new roman', serif; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; ">John Ivison: Trans-Pacific talks provide opportunity to put an end to Buy American protectionism</h1></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'helvetica neue', helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; "><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.333em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font: normal normal normal 16px/1.5em georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; ">When trade negotiators for the Harper government sit down in Singapore Monday for talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a bid to create a new free trade zone in the Pacific, they’ll also be trying to solve once and for all a lingering problem closer to home: Buy American protectionism in the U.S.</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.333em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font: normal normal normal 16px/1.5em georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; ">Years of political gridlock in Washington, exemplified by last week’s forced spending cuts or so-called sequester, have had a hidden upside for Canada. Many failed bills that would have authorized the spending of billions of dollars on public infrastructure would also have frozen Canadian companies out of U.S. markets by expanding protectionist measures.</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.333em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font: normal normal normal 16px/1.5em georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; ">Legislation such as the American Jobs Act, which did not pass Congress, would have aggravated an irritant that many Canadians likely thought was resolved in a deal with the Obama Administration three years ago, when Canada received an exemption from most protectionist provisions in the President’s stimulus spending act.</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.333em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font: normal normal normal 16px/1.5em georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; ">But Buy American is back and threatens to become a recurring feature in all public works spending bills, with major implications for jobs and investment in Canada.</div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; ">This week’s 16th round of TPP talks are just the second attended by Canada and Mexico, who were invited by President Barack Obama to join the U.S., Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'helvetica neue', helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; "><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.333em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font: normal normal normal 16px/1.5em georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; ">The TPP represents the most comprehensive trade negotiations between Canada and the U.S. since the conclusion of the NAFTA and it is viewed within the Canadian government as an opportunity to resolve issues that remain outside the scope of that deal.</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.333em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font: normal normal normal 16px/1.5em georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; ">NAFTA does not apply to many public works projects because, although the funding is federal, the money is transferred to the state or municipal level, where local governments are free to source suppliers locally. The U.S. government undertook $170-billion in non-defence procurement in 2010 but Canadian contractors are finding themselves shut out from an increasing share of that business — or are relocating their operations and jobs to become Buy American compliant.</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.333em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font: normal normal normal 16px/1.5em georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; ">Novabus, the St. Eustache, Que.-based bus subsidiary of Volvo, built an assembly plant employing 200 people in Plattsburgh, NY, in part because of Buy America provisions.</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.333em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font: normal normal normal 16px/1.5em georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; ">The only way Novabus could sell buses to transit authorities in the U.S. that use public funds, was to assemble those vehicles in the States.</div><blockquote class="pullquote" style="padding-top: 35px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 30px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-image: url(http://www.nationalpost.com/images/layout/quote-left-90x70.png); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; min-height: 1.6em; font: normal normal normal 22px/1.3em georgia, 'times new roman', serif; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; "><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.333em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font: normal normal normal 22px/1.3em georgia, 'times new roman', serif; ">The bottom line is that if the Americans get back to passing spending bills, they will all include Buy American-type provisions</div></blockquote><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.333em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font: normal normal normal 16px/1.5em georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; ">John Hayward, president of Halton Hills, Ont.-based pumping equipment manufacturer Hayward Gordon, said there is a resurgence in Buy American sentiment in the U.S. “It’s a falsehood that it was resolved in 2010. That was an 11th hour deal of minimal benefit that was only associated with the [American Recovery and Re-investment Act] spending bill. That has long expired and has no effect any more.</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.333em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font: normal normal normal 16px/1.5em georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; ">“The bottom line is that if the Americans get back to passing spending bills, they will all include Buy American-type provisions. Something has got to be done about it long-term, which underscores why it’s so important for the government to take the opportunity with the TPP.”</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.333em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font: normal normal normal 16px/1.5em georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; ">Hayward Gordon built a new factory in Halton Hills in 2006, so Mr. Hayward said his firm doesn’t have the option of re-locating south of the border. But he is in no doubt that other companies will.</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.333em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font: normal normal normal 16px/1.5em georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; ">The Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters organization has lent its voice to calls for the Canadian government to take a hard line on Buy American at TPP negotiations.</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.333em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font: normal normal normal 16px/1.5em georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; ">It said that the goal for Canada should be a comprehensive exemption from “buy national” restrictions. “Otherwise it will be difficult to support the conclusion of a negotiated TPP agreement that requires the government of Canada to make concessions to the U.S.”</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.333em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font: normal normal normal 16px/1.5em georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; ">The U.S. government is likely to lobby for a further tightening of intellectual property rules and the end to Canada’s supply management system that restricts imports of dairy and poultry products through high tariffs.</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.333em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font: normal normal normal 16px/1.5em georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; ">Failure to strike a deal on Buy American would lead to calls for retaliatory measures on sub-national infrastructure projects in Canada, the CME said. “We will have no option but to press our governments, federal and provincial, to provide a level playing field to Canadian companies,” it said in a briefing note.</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.333em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font: normal normal normal 16px/1.5em georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; "><em style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">National Post</em></div><div><em style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><br></em></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'helvetica neue', helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; "><div class="npBlock npRuleLight npGravatar" style="padding-top: 10px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(128, 128, 128); border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: dotted; "></div></span></div></body></html>