Buy American’ trade deal threatens municipal procurement in Canada
The “Buy American” exemption deal negotiated by Canada and the USA last week may be a serious threat to local government control over procurement policy.
Until now, municipal procurement in Canada has been exempt from international trade agreements. But the deal announced February 5th extends the Government Procurement Agreement of the WTO to cover Canadian municipalities. These WTO rules stop municipalities from implementing “buy local” or “made in Canada” preferences for purchases of goods and services.
If the provincial governments sign on to this deal, municipalities will lose an important environmental and social-economic policy tool, and may face increased pressure to privatize public services
For a more detailed overview, please check out this research brief from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.