Bill Kelly: What does ‘buy American’ mean for Canada?

One of president-elect Joe Biden‘s campaign promises was to build back better by buying American to fund pending infrastructure projects.

On the surface, that’s a rather ominous message to Canadian manufacturers who may fear that Canadian companies could be shut out of the bidding for major American projects.

But let’s keep our powder dry for the time being.

This is not the first time American politicians have used the ‘buy American’ mantra, and yes, it plays well on the campaign trail, but the end result is often less blunt.

The Obama administration, which, of course, included then-vice-president Biden, touted the same buy American policy as part of its plan to rebuild the economy after the horrific 2008 recession.

But after discussions and negotiations, some of that morphed into ‘buy North American’ policies, acknowledging the deeply interwoven supply chain that exists between Canada and the United States.

For that matter, even some of Trump’s uninformed ideas about trade between the two countries were watered down by negotiators who understood the interrelationship between the two economies.

As always, the devil will be in the details, but the good news is that president-elect Biden has signalled that he wants to strengthen relationships with American allies and trading partners, and it seems that Canada is high on that list.

Bill Kelly is the host of the Bill Kelly Show on Global News Radio 900 CHML.

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