Buy american version Obama: Ottawa réagit...

Si les canadiens aiment bien le Président Obama, on peut se demander si les plus récentes décisions de la Maison blanche ne vont pas refroidir les ardeurs de plusieurs.

"Ottawa is vowing to fight the latest attempt in the United States to place a Buy American restriction on a new multibillion-dollar government job creation package.

Trade Minister Ed Fast issued a statement Wednesday complaining about the new U.S. measures, which would discriminate against Canadian suppliers bidding on public construction projects in the United States.

"Our government is committed to delivering free trade leadership and Canadians can count on our government to defend free and open trade on the world stage," Fast said in the release.

"I have instructed Canadian officials to initiate the consultation process that was established as part of the 2010 Canada-U.S. Agreement on Government Procurement."

The U.S. Congress passed an earlier stimulus bill in 2009. which also sought to direct work to American companies at the expense of foreign suppliers, but Ottawa eventually obtained a Canadian exemption.

That may have come too late for many Canadian suppliers, however.

The Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters group said companies north of the border lost out on billions of dollars in work on U.S. infrastructure projects.

Suppliers of everything from steel and sewers to metals, pipe and construction materials, were affected.

Some of the most dramatic examples that came to light included a Toronto company that had its plastic piping ripped out of a project in California.

A Halton, Ont. company also complained publicly that it was being shut out of bidding for work and had briefly contemplated moving south of the border to comply with the new rules.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities became so incensed by the law that it passed a resolution to discriminate against U.S. suppliers in their procurement unless a solution was worked out.

Tuesday's unveiling of the latest US$447 billion jobs bill by President Barack Obama appears to have a disregarded the compromise reached by the two governments last year."

Pour la suite:
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/09/14/ottawa-fight-buy-american_n_962056.html