EU business seeks removal of “buy America” requirements in TTIP negotiations. BUSINESSEUROPE, a leading business organization in the European Union (EU), cited removal of U.S. domestic preferences as one of its primary goals in the procurement
The revised GPA sets the standard for the procurement that the United States covers in other agreements. Beginning in 1981, the United States (U.S.) has opened its government procurement to a number of trading partners by means of bilateral and
For update, see: Launch of Environmental Goods Agreement Negotiations A new initiative aimed at free trade in environmental goods will be developed as a plurilateral agreement among “like-minded” WTO Members. On January 24, 2014, the United States and
Despite some improvements, China’s latest GPA offer has only slightly narrowed the gap with the coverage of current GPA Parties. A recent posting outlined China’s slow progress over the past 12 years to meet its 2001 WTO commitment to join the
In 2014, China should fulfill its WTO commitment to join the Government Procurement Agreement. At the 24th U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) in December, China committed to “accelerate” its negotiations to accede to the WTO
The international procurement system made modest gains in 2013 with promises for more progress in 2014. For the United States, the primary developments in international procurement centered on the negotiations of two major regional trade agreements. The
The United States opened its procurement to Croatia when it became the 43rd WTO Member to join the GPA roster. When the Republic of Croatia was added to the roster of WTO members subject to the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) on July 1, 2013, the
In the negotiations of the TPP and TTIP, the United States will need to overcome the challenges of covering state procurement in trade agreements. In current trade talks — the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment
The upcoming WTO Ministerial in Bali can spur efforts to implement the revision of the WTO Government Procurement Agreement. The upcoming 9th WTO Ministerial Conference in Bali in December provides a significant opportunity for the WTO Members that are
Over nearly 35 years, the United States has negotiated trade agreements that provide U.S. firms with opportunities to participate in 57 foreign government procurement markets. In 1981, the United States implemented the first agreement that opened federal