Tag: WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)

Final Infrastructure Guidance: No Trade Agreement Provisions

The White House’s final guidance on implementing the Build America, Buy America Act (BABA Act), issued on August 14, added no provisions to its proposed guidance for the application of the Act’s ‘Buy America’ preference to

US-EU Green Public Procurement Initiative

The United States and the European Union (EU) are teaming up on a green public procurement initiative. As two leading parties to the plurilateral WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), their joint action could have a significant motivating effect on

WTO Procurement Pact: North Macedonia Joins, Brazil Pulls Offer

In its first meeting since July 2021, the WTO procurement committee approved North Macedonia’s membership in the plurilateral Government Procurement Agreement (GPA). At the same time, it acknowledged Brazil’s withdrawal of its market access offer. This

WTO Procurement Committee Resumes Business 

Following a hiatus of nearly two years, the WTO Government Procurement Committee has – at last – selected a new chair, enabling it to resume its work. On May 17, it selected Martin Zbinden from Switzerland as Its new leader. This post looks

EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation & Procurement Obligations

The European Union (EU) is implementing a Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) that is aimed at addressing distortions caused by foreign subsidies in EU public procurement. The EU contends that foreign subsidies could provide foreign firms with an unfair

EU Net-Zero Industry Act: Procurement

The European Union is seeking to scale up the manufacturing of clean technologies with a Net-Zero Industry Act. To accelerate access to markets for net-zero technologies, the proposed legislation deploys the EU’s sizeable public procurement (around EUR

Trade Agreements Ignored in New ‘Buy America’ Rules

The Biden administration is intent on closing what it regards as a “giant loophole” that has allowed infrastructure projects to be built with products (other than iron and steel) “sourced from anywhere in the world.” To that end, it has proposed

United Kingdom’s Mini-State Pacts

With the Biden administration showing no intention of restarting Trump-initiated negotiations of a free trade agreement (FTA), the United Kingdom (UK) is seeking to build relationships with individual US states. So, far it has signed non-binding arrangements

EU-Chile Upgraded FTA: Procurement

In December 2022, the European Union (EU) concluded negotiations of an upgraded free trade agreement (FTA) with Chile. The EU-Chile Advanced Framework Agreement is the 9th FTA the EU has negotiated since 2017 when it implemented a comprehensive agreement

India-UAE FTA Advances Global Procurement

A free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with procurement commitments offers an encouraging counterpoint to the stalled WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA). While the FTA draws extensively from the GPA’s