Since President Trump announced his reciprocal tariff program on April 2, 2025, his administration has signed nine Agreements on Reciprocal Trade (ARTs) (with Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Taiwan). It has also announced framework deals with the European Union, India, Japan, Korea, North Macedonia, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, Thailand, and Vietnam. […]
On March 4, the European Commission introduced ‘Made in EU’ and low-carbon requirements for public procurement in a proposed new regulation, the Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA), with the aim of increasing demand for low-carbon, European-made technologies and products. It focuses on energy intensive industries, namely steel, cement, and aluminum, as well as the automotive value chain and net-zero […]
After signing their trade agreement in January 2026, the European Union (EU) and four Mercosur countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay) are now moving toward its implementation in June, albeit on a provisional basis. This was made possible when the European Commission decided on February 26 to implement the trade elements of their broader agreement on a provisional […]
After a long history of criticizing “Buy American” policies, Canada is now implementing its own suite of “Buy Canadian” policies, in response to President Trump’s tariff and trade policies, as well as “Buy American” restrictions. This post outlines Canada’s new procurement restrictions and their potential implications for US suppliers. (An earlier post, Ontario Retaliates Against Tariffs with […]
A new Briefing Paper, “Key International Procurement Developments in 2025,” published by Thomson Reuters, looks at key developments in international government procurement in 2025. The Paper begins with the Trump administration’s tariff and trade policies, which are reverberating throughout the global trading system. On government procurement, they include a threat to withdraw from the WTO Government […]
The European Commission published Guidelines on its enforcement of the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) on January 9, 2026. They apply to foreign subsidies that distort the internal market in public procurement and mergers and acquisitions within the European Union (EU). The Guidelines clarified three key concepts: (i) how the Commission analyzes market distortions caused by subsidies from third countries; (ii) how […]
More than a year after the European Union (EU) and Mercosur—the South America trade bloc (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay) —completed negotiations of a trade agreement, they were finally able to sign it on January 17, 2026. EU approval was delayed by member state opposition. The states finally gave the “green light” on January 9, albeit with a qualified majority—the […]
In its recently issued annual report, the WTO Committee on Government Procurement highlighted progress on accessions to the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)–but added no new members, its decision to provide greater transparency of its work, its work programs, and its designation of a new chair (from Norway). This post examines the key developments over the past […]
In its recent tariff and investment agreement with Switzerland and Liechtenstein, the Trump administration obtained a commitment from the two countries to curtail the access to their government procurement of countries that are not parties to the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) or free trade agreements (FTAs). This commitment responds to a concern set out […]
The European Commission has initiated an in-depth investigation under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) to determine whether a Chinese bidder has an undue advantage in a Portugal procurement as the result of foreign subsidies. This is the fourth FSR investigation that has targeted Chinese companies. In the first three cases, the Chinese firm withdrew from the procurement. […]