The NAM wants to be sure you are aware of a new opportunity for U.S. manufacturers in Canada. In February, the United States and Canada signed a new bilateral government procurement agreement that, for the first time, opens Canada's Provincial Governments' purchasing to U.S. companies. This is a momentous development, in that the United States has tried since the original U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement, subsequently in NAFTA, and again in the WTO, to obtain access to Provincial level procurement markets. There are potentially billions of dollars in new opportunities for U.S. manufacturers as a result of this opening.

This is excellent news for U.S. manufacturers, who can now bid for projects they previously could not. We encourage you to take advantage of this new opportunity. A searchable database of Canadian government procurement projects, many of which are now open to U.S. companies, can be found at MERX http://www.merx.com (subscription based from $16.50/month), which provides online tender information for most Canadian provincial governments as well as for the Canadian federal government.

The deal provides permanent U.S. access to Canadian provincial and territorial procurement markets under the World Trade Organization (WTO) Government Procurement Agreement (GPA). In addition, the United States has secured access for American suppliers through September 2011 to construction contracts in a number of Canadian provincial and municipal entities not otherwise covered by the GPA. In exchange, the United States agreed to provide Canada with access to 37 states already covered by the GPA and access for suppliers to a limited number of programs funded by the Recovery Act. Both countries agreed to continue a dialogue on mutually beneficial procurement opportunities.

This is an opportunity not available to any other country. Under both NAFTA and WTO GPA, Canada did not open these sub-federal markets to foreign companies to compete for government spending. The agreement was negotiated both to settle long-standing U.S. requests for access to Canada's significant provincial procurement sector, which would open markets for U.S. exports of goods and services to Canada, and to address concerns expressed by Canada regarding "Buy American" provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The Text of the Agreement and more details can be found at http://www.international.gc.ca/trade-agreements-accords-commerciaux/fo/gp.aspx?lang=eng

If you need more information, the U.S. Commerce Department has experts in both Washington and in Canada. In Washington, contact Ms. Emily Barragan, International Trade Specialist, International Trade Administration at (202) 482-4705 or Emily.barragan@trade.gov. In Canada, contact Ms. Lucy Latka, Senior Commercial Specialist, U.S. Foreign Commercial Service Ottawa at (613) 688-5219 or lucy.latka@trade.gov.  You can also contact NAM's Director of International Trade Policy Doug Goudie (202) 637-3078 or dgoudie@nam.org.