Trade Cases
Ontario Ready to Retaliate Against Buy American Policy
Written by Sandy Williams
February 7, 2018
New York State’s “Buy American” procurement law will take effect April 1 and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne is fighting back.
Wynne said that if a last minute exception is not granted to Ontario, the province will take “proportional” retaliatory action.
The New York law will require state agencies to use steel and iron made in the U.S. for road and bridge projects that cost more than $1 million. The bill was signed into law in December with overwhelming bipartisan support.
Wynne said it threatens Ontario businesses that exported CAD $10.7 billion in goods to New York in 2015 and imported CAD $14.1 billion.
“I think we have to stand up for the businesses and the workers in Ontario. Exactly what that will look like, we’ll have to work on,” Wynne told reporters at the Canadian Embassy.
Wynne said care would be taken to ensure that any response does not cause more harm than good. “I’m not in the business of harming Ontario businesses. We want to make sure that whatever we do is proportional to what New York has done, but wouldn’t harm Ontario,” she said.
Wynne was active in lobbying against the New York Buy American policy and succeeded with help from Quebec to defeat an original proposal that would have required American-made products to be used for any project of $100,000 or more.
Ontario plans to introduce legislation, after the Ontario parliament reconvenes April 20, that will give the province power to reduce procurement opportunities for states that adopt Buy American provisions. Any actions would be proportional to the U.S. exclusion of Canadian products. One of the states that could be targeted is Texas, which enacted a Buy American iron and steel law in September.
Wynne says Canada remains “on alert” to protectionist Buy American policies encouraged by the Trump administration and under discussion in NAFTA negotiations. She plans to discuss implementing retaliatory measures with other premiers at an upcoming conference, but stressed she wants to avoid triggering a trade war.
Wynne said she is encouraged by what she has heard about the NAFTA talks during a recent meeting with U.S. legislators and Trump administration officials.
“Nobody said, ‘We need to blow up NAFTA,’” she said. “There was no sense that we’re better off without it.”
Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Trade Cases
Price on Trade: IEEPA tariffs head to the Supreme Court, DOJ ramps up trade enforcement
International trade law and policy remain a hot topic in Washington and beyond this week. We are paying special attention to the ongoing litigation of the president’s tariff policies and the administration’s efforts to heighten trade enforcement.
Mexico considers stiff tariffs for steel, autos, and other imports
Mexico is considering imposing steep tariffs on imports of steel, automobiles, and over 1,400 other products. Its target? Countries with which it does not have free trade agreements, mainly China, India, Thailand, and other South Asian nations.
Leibowitz: With ‘reciprocal’ tariffs struck down again in court, what happens next?
President Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Policy Act (IEEPA) were struck down again, this time on Aug. 29 by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC). The legal and policy mess continues, with the next stop being the US Supreme Court.
Market unfazed by US circuit court’s IEEPA decision
Repealing any reciprocal tariffs placed by President Donald Trump on US imports of direct reduced iron (DRI), iron ore, hot-briquetted iron (HBI), and pig iron would have only a nominal impact on the US steel market, market participants said.
ITC votes to keep HR duties after sunset review
The US government determined this week that hot-rolled steel imports from a handful of countries continue to threaten the domestic steel industry.