Protectionism: Will Obama Listen

The Star reported that he said:

• "Buy American won't compromise trade: Obama
  
  President Barack Obama downplayed his country's controversial Buy American policy on Monday and said it has not compromised trade relations between Canada and the United States.
  
  Speaking at a joint news conference with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexican President Felipe Calderon following a two-day North American summit in Guadalajara, Obama said Harper raised the issue with him.
  
  "It's important to keep it in perspective that, in fact, we have not seen some sweeping steps towards protectionism," Obama said, adding that the measure does not contravene any World Trade Organization obligations.
  
  The provision requires U.S. contractors to use raw materials and equipment made in the U. S. for projects tied to the $787-billion U.S. stimulus package. Harper and his cabinet colleagues, including Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon in a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in June, have been calling for a reversal of the provisions and, last week, the provincial and territorial premiers voiced their support for Ottawa's efforts to push back against the policy. Canadian companies say they are losing millions of dollars in contracts because of the Buy American provision..."
  
  Harper, who arrived in Mexico on Sunday for two days of talks with Calderon and Obama — an annual meeting dubbed the Three Amigos Summit — made it clear he doesn't intend to drop the issue.
  
  "I anticipate that President Obama and I will be discussing this at greater length at our upcoming meetings," Harper said at the news conference. Harper and Obama have a bilateral meeting scheduled in Washington in September."

Such nice words from the President in Mexico. Here is a different US reality that blames the mess on us and suggests that no one in DC really cares what Harper thinks!

• THE WHITE HOUSE
  
  Office of the Press Secretary
  For Immediate Release
  August 7, 2009
  
  PRESS BRIEFING BY
  NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR GENERAL JAMES JONES,
  DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR FOR INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC AFFAIRS MICHAEL FROMAN,
  NSC SENIOR DIRECTOR OF WESTERN HEMISPHERE AFFAIRS DANIEL RESTREPO,
  AND DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR FOR COUNTERTERRORISM AND HOMELAND SECURITY JOHN BRENNAN
  
  August 6, 2009
  
  James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
  
  Q I guess maybe Mr. Froman -- it's the "Buy America." Both Canada and Mexico, Canada especially, are upset over -- continue to be upset over the "Buy America" provisions. We have heard here in the briefing room that that's really been resolved, that we would adhere to our international obligations. Yet Canada says that there is a violation. Can you resolve that? And how will it be resolved this weekend?
  
  MR. FROMAN: As you know, the President insisted that whatever "Buy American" provisions were put into the stimulus bill be consistent with our international obligations, and we believe the implementation of the "Buy American" provisions are consistent with our international obligations. The problem, as you probably know, is that Canada has not bound its provinces to the government procurement agreement and therefore our states are not bound either. And so it covers federal procurement, but not state and local procurement.
  
  We're in dialogue with Canada and our other trading partners about the issue to try and implement the "Buy American" provision in a way consistent with the law, consistent with our international obligations, while minimizing disruption to trade.
  
  Q Does the fact that the provinces aren't bound, is that a violation of WTO --
  
  MR. FROMAN: No, countries volunteer whether they want to bind their states and localities, or in the case of Canada, their provinces, and Canada did not bind their --
  
  Q So they're stuck?
  
  MR. FROMAN: We'll work with them -- we're working with them and our other trading partners to see if we can mitigate the impact on trade while implementing the law and fulfilling our international obligations.