Ottawa threatens to use rare law in Buy America dispute in B.C.

The federal government is threatening to throw a wrench into Alaska’s plans to build on Canadian turf exclusively with American steel and iron.

International Trade Minister Ed Fast said Canada took a rare step when it signed a legal order to block the state of Alaska from imposing the protectionist Buy America Act on a project to construct a new ferry terminal on the British Columbia coastline.

“We have been clear: The application of protectionist Buy America provisions on Canadian soil is unacceptable and an affront to Canadian sovereignty,” Fast said in a statement after the Canadian government signed the order under the Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act.

The law opens the door for Canadian authorities to prevent anyone in Canada from complying with the Buy America provisions in the project.

The federal government signed the order on the grounds it hurts the country’s interests after Alaska rejected its demands to ditch its restrictions for a ferry terminal in Prince Rupert, B.C...

The tendering document for a new terminal states the roughly US$15-million project must only use iron and steel sourced from the United States, as per Buy America legislation.

If the process moves forward with the Buy America policy, the Canadian government could exercise the order against the winning contractor and any violations could lead to police investigations.

The project’s call for tenders is to close this week...

Alaska Gov. Bill Walker said he has been in communication with Gary Doer, Canada’s ambassador to the U.S.

“I think we’ll get through this,” Walker said. “It’s a little bit of a bump in the road, as far as that project, but ‘Buy America’ is there for a reason, when it’s our funds.”...

This has been excerpted from the 20 January 2015 article by The Canadian Press.