Canada to Launch Intense Lobbying Effort in Congress over Buy America

(The Canadian Press – Julian Beltrame and Ross Marowits)

Canada is launching a major arm-twisting effort in Washington on Tuesday that targets American congressmen and senators vulnerable to tit-for-tat retaliation against U.S. protectionism. Trade Minister Stockwell Day said Canadian trade officials from across the United States are descending on Congress and will be meeting with lawmakers armed with numbers about how many jobs in their districts could be lost if Canada retaliates against Buy America provisions.

“This is the ongoing full-court press to get the attention of Congress that the Buy America provisions as currently constituted are going to wind up hurting jobs, hurting business on both sides of the border,” he said in an interview. “We’ve produced a map that goes state by state, shows the vulnerabilities in each state where there are businesses that expressly do business with Canada that are at risk to being hurt if municipalities on our side of the border retaliate.”

Canada’s most senior diplomats in Washington and 13 consuls general are expected to meet with over 75 members of Congress and staff on the issue.

The action follows a narrow vote among Canadian municipalities over the weekend advocating retaliation in kind against Buy America, which forces U.S. municipalities and states to use American steel and manufacturing exclusively for projects paid by taxpayers. The Canadian municipalities say it would be fair trade to discriminate against any country that discriminates against Canadian suppliers in local procurement contracts. Read more here.