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 George Washington Law School presented a very informative webinar on Brazil’s public procurement market on October 7. Brazilian procurement experts discussed Brazil’s new public procurement law as well as its negotiations to join the
The US-China Business Council (USCBC) has issued a report that details the growing challenges faced by U.S. companies in participating in procurement by Chinese government entities and state-owned enterprises (SOEs). The primary challenges include
On August 10, 2021, the U.S. Senate passed an infrastructure bill, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which authorizes $1 trillion in spending on a broad range of infrastructure projects. Its 69-30 vote was “overwhelmingly bipartisan.” The
The Biden administration has proposed changes in the rules that implement the Buy American Act of 1933, in response to the president’s January 2021 Made in America order. The changes include increases in the domestic content threshold required for a
Two years after reaching an agreement in principle, the European Union and four members of Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) have finalized details of their 2019 agreement. Its government procurement chapter is limited to
Canada has launched a multi-front approach to “Buy America” policies that includes seeking exemptions from both current and future policies. A special committee of the Canadian Parliament has called on the Canadian government to seek “a full
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,
As discussed in a recent post, the United States, the European Union and other parties to the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) questioned Saudi Arabia in its WTO Trade Policy Review (TPR) regarding its plans to fulfill its WTO commitment to