This post surveys major actions in 2021 in the international procurement arena. It begins with agreements that are aimed at liberalizing procurement markets. It then looks at measures that are focused on protecting domestic procurement markets or restricting
The year 2021 marks two important milestones for government procurement agreements in the international arena. One is the 40th anniversary of the implementation – in 1981 – of the first international procurement agreement: the GATT Code on
The Biden administration has inaugurated a new Made in America website with information on waivers of the Buy American Act and other “Made in America” laws. This website lists current waivers that the newly established Made in America office has
The European Union is once again moving forward with a long-stalled proposed procurement regulation. It would allow the EU to close procurement or impose penalties when countries do not open their government procurement to EU companies. At the end of May,
A paper, Converging Procurement Systems: Developments in 2020, presented at the annual Thomas Reuters Government Contracts Year in Review Conference in February, examined key developments in the international procurement arena in 2020. They
Fifteen Asian countries, including China, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand and the 10 ASEAN members, signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) on November 15, after eight years of negotiations. Following the Trans-Pacific
In contrast to its expansion of Buy American policies, the Trump administration took an unusual step and lifted a ban on procurement of N95 masks, hand sanitizers, personal protective equipment (PPE) and other products needed to fight covid-19 from non-trade
In a February 2020 meeting, the WTO Committee on Government Procurement assessed the status of negotiations by several WTO members to join the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) and Switzerland’s imminent ratification of the revised GPA. This post
On January 1, 2020, China implemented a new Foreign Investment Law (FIL) along with implementing regulations. The Law, adopted by the National People’s Congress in March 2019, was designed to ease restrictions on foreign firms’ operations in China and
In a January report, BUSINESSEUROPE, a leading business organization, called on the European Union to rebalance its relationship with China in order to address systemic challenges arising from its state-led economy that are leading to market distortions