XPost: can.politics, bc.politics, ab.politics   
   XPost: ont.politics, sk.politics, man.politics   
   From: "@nyet.ca   
      
   Harper is still allowing our companies to send our jobs to Asia -   
   without any kind of penalty or deterrence.  Obama has in effect said to   
   companies:  'You want U.S. government contracts, you make your products   
   in the U.S.   . . . . you want government funding for your industry, you   
   buy vehicles and goods made in America.'   
      
   Sure it's protectionism.  But it benefits the people within the borders   
   of the country imposing that protection.  If Harper was more of a   
   Canadian, he would have imposed those restrictions on our natural   
   resources - from lumber to oil and gas and hydro.   
      
   Screw NAFTA. . . .  the Americans are.   
   It's time Canadians got a break from 'global market competitiveness'.   
   We can't compete with $5/week wages in Bangladesh and we shouldn't have   
   to.  Our standard of living was built on decent wages allowing us to   
   live above-average lifestyles.  Our work, our taxdollars, our standard   
   of living.  The oil companies are now behind our rising 'inflation rate'   
   and the banks are just chomping at the bit to raise interest rates on   
   our mortgages.  Time we got off this merry-go-round.  Get rid of Harper.   
     Elect a party that will look after CANADIANS' interests.   
   And no, that isn't Pierre Trudeau's son that would do that.   
   __________________________________________________   
      
      
   Protectionist Buy American provisions back   
      
   The Associated Press   
        Published on June 27, 2014   
      
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   Canada’s not happy, trade minister says   
      
   Buy American provisions are back, and the Canadian government is   
   sounding off in frustration.   
      
   International Trade Minister Ed Fast   
      
   Canada staged an intervention this week over new allegations of U.S.   
   protectionism, with federal officials producing a list of fresh   
   grievances during a meeting at the World Trade Organization (WTO).   
      
   The government is now airing its frustration in public over American   
   trade measures that have received little attention so far.   
      
   â€œCanada is very concerned with recent legislation in the United States   
   which reflects repeated attempts to impose domestic content requirements   
   for products purchased by federal, state and municipal-level governments   
   within the U.S.,â€� International Trade Minister Ed Fast said a statement   
   Friday.   
      
   â€œCanada’s focus is on eliminating trade barriers, not erecting new ones.   
   Protectionism is bad policy, and bad for businesses on both sides of the   
   border.â€�   
      
   Protectionism had receded somewhat as a bilateral irritant the last few   
   years.   
      
   The Keystone XL pipeline dispute has become the hot-button issue, ever   
   since a 2010 procurement deal calmed earlier tensions over the   
   domestic-procurement provisions in U.S. stimulus legislation.   
      
   But the Canadian government has a list of new concerns.   
      
   It points to a clause in a major water-infrastructure law just passed by   
   Congress; a transit bill proposed by the Obama administration; several   
   state laws and proposed laws; and a plan to hike inspection fees at the   
   border for agricultural products.   
      
   Those irritants were raised at a WTO meeting in Geneva on Wednesday.   
      
   Federal officials singled out:   
      
   â€°    The multibillion-dollar Water Resources Reform and Development Act,   
   signed into law this month by U.S. President Barack Obama. Section 608   
   of the infrastructure law stipulates that, to be eligible for one of the   
   funding programs, all of the iron and steel products used in a project   
   must be produced in the U.S.   
      
   â€°    The new Grow America Act, legislation proposed by the Obama   
   administration, which might not pass Congress. The bill is the   
   administration’s attempt to avert a looming crisis: the expiry of   
   funding for U.S. highways. The plan also funds public transit, and one   
   clause stipulates that to be eligible for funding vehicles must be built   
   with American components. The percentage of the required American   
   content would grow each year, from 60 per cent next year to 100 per cent   
   by 2019.   
      
   â€°    An administration plan to increase the inspection fees for   
   agricultural goods entering the U.S. The Canadian government estimates   
   the move would increase the cost of inspecting a container to $8 at land   
   borders, up $2.75. It estimates the measure would cost the Canadian   
   trucking industry $15.5 million in new border fees.   
      
   â€°    State bills over the last two months, passed in Minnesota and being   
   studied in New York and Massachusetts. The Massachusetts bill pertains   
   to general procurement, while the other two refer specifically to steel.   
      
   â€œThese state initiatives raise   
      
   several systemic issues of concern to Canada,â€� said a Canadian   
      
   brief presented during a WTO meeting.   
      
   â€œEven though many of these new initiatives may not pass, the reoccurring   
   threat of new forced localization requirements discourages foreign   
   suppliers from investing the time and energy in developing new   
   opportunities in foreign public procurement markets....   
      
   â€œUncertainty — in and of itself — has the potential to undermine market   
   access.â€�   
      
   One protectionism complaint that has been aired publicly the last few   
   years involves country-of-origin labelling for meat, which has prompted   
   a court dispute as well as a challenge by Canada and Mexico at the WTO.   
      
   The Americans have their own irritants when it comes to trade. U.S.   
   pharmaceutical companies, for instance, accuse Canada’s political and   
   legal system of being lax in enforcing drug patents.   
      
   The U.S. embassy in Ottawa referred questions about the Canadian   
   complaints to the United States Trade Representative in Washington. As   
   of late-afternoon Friday, the office of  the U.S. Trade  Representative   
   had not responded.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)