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Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters concerned about access to U.S. market

With the incoming Biden administration already rumored to be set to kill the Keystone XL pipeline, the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME) is expressing concern about losing access to the U.S. market.

The group is calling on the Canadian government to take action to preserve Canadian manufacturers’ access t the U.S. government procurement market.

CME noted President-Elect Joe Biden is expected to reinforce the Buy American Act immediately after his inauguration Jan. 20. Instead, it prefers a ‘Buy North American’ plan.

“Canada, Mexico, and the United States don’t trade with each other anymore – we build things together. Excluding each other from our respective government procurement markets could seriously hurt our precarious economic recovery,” said Dennis Darby, president and CEO of CME.

Canada-U.S. border
(Photo: iStock)

“We believe our federal government has to push this right away with the new Biden administration. It took Canada nearly a year to negotiate exemptions in 2010, when President Obama’s administration enacted ‘Buy American’ provisions.”

Biden has promised an executive action in his first week as president to enforce the 1933 Buy American Act. CME said it’s “imperative” that Canada renew and strengthen its diplomatic ties with the new administration to maintain its trading relationship.

“If we are not successful in convincing President-elect Biden of the merits of an open government procurement market in North America, the Canadian government must be prepared to retaliate in kind by limiting access to American firms to our procurement opportunities,” Darby said.

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