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WASHINGTON, DC—US “Buy American” rules are creating hardships for some Canadian manufacturers, according to a recent article in Canada’s largest daily newspaper. The Globe and Mail turned to Womble Bond Dickinson Government Contracts attorney Matt Koehl to help explain exactly how “Buy American” policies operate.
Bombardier Inc. announced this week that it will cut 550 jobs from its Thunder Bay, Ont. Railcar manufacturing plant. Company officials say “Buy American” guidelines, which require a certain amount of US-sourced content in manufactured goods, are a factor in the Thunder Bay job cuts. The company plans to add jobs in the US.
Koehl explained that there are no exceptions to the “Buy America” laws applicable to most US government-funded transportation projects for countries, such as Canada, that have trade agreements with the US. The core Buy American Act became law in 1933, but it and other Buy America statutes have become a particular point of emphasis for the Trump Administration.
Click here to read “‘Buy America’ Rules Pull Bombardier South” in The Globe and Mail (subscription required).
Also, click here to access a series of materials Koehl and Gary Campbell created with Practical Law to help federal contractors comply with the Buy American Act and other Country of Origin laws applicable to US government contracts.
Matt Koehl is a veteran government contracts lawyer with more than 20 years of private law firm and senior in-house law department experience. He represents commercial and defense contractors across a broad range of industries, with a particular emphasis on matters relating to the Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) program.
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