President Donald Trump has directed federal officials to identify Canadian products that could be removed from the U.S. government's civilian purchasing system in response to Canadian procurement preferences.
The presidential memorandum instructs the Office of Management and Budget and U.S. trade officials to take legally available steps to make selected Canadian-origin goods unavailable for federal civilian purchases.
Agencies must identify domestic alternatives
The directive calls for the OMB director and U.S. trade representative to work with the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council and other executive officials.
They must identify Canadian-origin items that can be removed from the procurement system and notify federal agencies about domestic alternatives when allowed by law.
Agency leaders are directed to implement the memorandum within their existing authority. The OMB director must provide periodic progress updates to the president.
The U.S. trade representative must continue monitoring Canada's treatment of American products in federal and provincial procurement markets and flag circumstances that could justify additional action.
The representative may also recommend restoring access for a Canadian product if Canada changes the policies cited by the administration.
White House cites uneven market access
The administration said Canada's “Buy Canadian” policies and provincial preferences limit opportunities for U.S. companies while Canadian businesses retain access to more than $280 billion in federal purchasing covered by the World Trade Organization Agreement on Government Procurement.
The White House fact sheet described that relationship as discriminatory and linked the new memorandum with earlier tariffs on Canadian alcoholic beverages, dairy products and motor vehicles.
The administration also said it declined to renew the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement in its existing form, arguing that the arrangement did not provide sufficient benefits to American manufacturers, farmers, service providers and workers.
The memorandum does not itself list products that will be barred or set a deadline for removing them. Any action must comply with existing law and available appropriations.
FingerLakes1.com is the region’s leading all-digital news publication. The company was founded in 1998 and has been keeping residents informed for more than two decades. Have a lead? Send it to news@fingerlakes1.com.