All but 10 U.S. states open procurement to foreign countries under one or more international agreements. The vast majority of the states (37) have commitments under the
WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), as well as the U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (FTA) (by virtue of their coverage under the GPA since Singapore is a GPA party) and the U.S.-Chile FTA. (The Chile FTA entered for force at the same time as the Singapore FTA.) A number of the states also have commitments under other FTAs. Georgia is the only state that is covered under an FTA, the U.S.-Australia FTA, but not the GPA. Puerto Rico covers procurement under FTAs with Central and South American countries.
In addition, three states (Illinois, North Dakota and West Virginia have commitments under an agreement with the European Union,
1995 U.S.-EU Exchange of Letters. The Exchange of Letters also covers several cities and the Massachusetts Port Authority.
The U.S. does not cover the procurement of any states under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) nor its FTAs with Bahrain, Israel, Jordan, Korea and Oman. As GPA parties, Korea and Israel have rights to participate in the state procurement covered under the GPA.
Each state covers the same procurement in all the agreements under which it has obligations. In a similar fashion, the GPA and FTA specify the same procedural obligations for state procurement and apply the same thresholds for procurement covered under those agreements. Based on the latest biannual adjustment by the U.S. Trade Representative, the thresholds for state procurement for calendar years 2014 and 2015 are $558,000 for goods and services and $7,864,000 for construction services.
The procedures in the GPA and FTA do not apply to state procurement covered only by the U.S.-EU Exchange of Letters. That agreement does not specify any requirements with respect to how procurement is conducted or even the procurement that it covers. Under that agreement, a state’s only commitment is to allow EU suppliers to participate in state procurement on an equal basis with domestic suppliers, but only if the state opens up a procurement to foreign suppliers. If a state does not consider out-of-state suppliers in a procurement, the EU suppliers have no rights to participate in the state's procurement.
The following chart shows the states and the agreements under which each has commitments.
STATES COVERED UNDER INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS
[table],WTO GPA,AUSFTA,CAFTA-DR,U.S-Chile FTA,U.S.-Colombia FTA,U.S.-Morocco FTA,U.S.-Panama FTA,U.S.-Peru FTA,U.S.-Singapore FTA,1995 U.S.-EU Exchange of Letters
STATE,,,,,,,,,,
Arizona,X,,,X,,,,,X,
Arkansas,X,X,X,X,X,X,X,X,X,
California,X,X,,X,,,,,X,
Colorado,X,X,X,X,X,X,X,X,X,
Connecticut,X,X,X,X,,X,,,X,
Delaware,X,X,X,X,,X,,X,X,
Florida,X,X,X,X,X,X,X,X,X,
Georgia,,X,,,,,,,,
Hawaii,X,X,X,X,,X,,,X,
Idaho,X,X,X,X,,X,,,X,
Illinois,X,X,,X,X,,X,X,X,X
Iowa,X,,,X,,,,,X,
Kansas,X,X,,X,,X,,,X,
Kentucky,X,X,X,X,,X,,,X,
Louisiana,X,X,X,X,,X,,,X,
Maine,X,X,,X,,,,,X,
Maryland,X,X,X,X,,X,,,X,
Massachusetts,X,,,X,,,,,X,
Michigan,X,X,,X,,,,,X,
Minnesota,X,,,X,,,,,X,
Mississippi,X,X,X,X,X,X,X,X,X,
Missouri,X,,,X,,,,,X,
Montana,X,,,X,,,,,X,
Nebraska,X,X,X,X,,X,,,X,
New Hampshire,X,X,X,X,,X,,,X,
New York,X,X,X,X,X,X,X,X,X,
North Dakota,,,,,,,,,,X
Oklahoma,X,X,,X,,,,X,X,
Oregon,X,X,X,X,,X,,,X,
Pennsylvania,X,X,,X,,,,,X,
Rhode Island,X,X,X,X,,X,,,X,
South Dakota,X,X,X,X,,X,,,X,
Tennessee,X,X,,X,,,,,X,
Texas,X,X,X,X,X,X,X,X,X,
Utah,X,X,X,X,X,X,X,X,X,
Vermont,X,X,X,X,,X,,,X,
Washington,X,X,X,X,,X,,,X,
West Virginia,,,,,,,,,,X
Wisconsin,X,,,X,,,,,X,
Wyoming,X,X,X,X,,X,,,X,
,,,,,,,,,,
Puerto Rico,,,X,,X,,X,X,,
,,,,,,,,,,[/table]
The FTAs and the dates that they entered into force are:
- AUSFTA (U.S.-Australia FTA) entered into force on Jan. 1, 2005.
- CAFTA-DR (U.S.-Dominican Republic-Central American FTA) entered into force in 2006 for El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, in 2007 for the Dominican Republic, and in 2009 for Costa Rica.
- U.S.-Chile FTA entered into force on Jan. 1, 2004.
- U.S.-Colombia FTA (U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement) entered into force on May 15, 2012.
- U.S.-Morocco FTA entered into force on Jan. 1, 2006.
- U.S.-Panama FTA (U.S.-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement) entered into force on Oct. 31, 2012.
- U.S.-Peru FTA (U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement) entered into force on Feb. 1, 2009.
- U.S.-Singapore FTA entered into force on Jan. 1, 2004.
Jean Heilman Grier
July 28, 2014
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