Ah. The Weaker Version of "Buy America" Is Not Quite Toothless After All...

Alan Beattie in Washington, Peter Smith in Sydney and Mure Dickie in Tokyo for the FT:

World wary of softer Buy American plan: US trade partners reacted warily on Thursday after the US Senate tried to head off an international trade conflict by voting to soften the controversial Buy American provisions in the near-$900bn economic stimulus bill. Late on Wednesday night, the Senate narrowed the provisions, which require that federal money be spent on goods from US companies, to ensure they would be compatible with US commitments under existing trade treaties....

The US is a signatory to the World Trade Organisation’s agreement on government procurement, under which it has committed itself to open certain goods and services to international tender. It also has more wide-ranging commitments under the North American Free Trade Agreement to Canada and Mexico. But even the narrower provision, which is similar to one in the House of Representatives, would still permit the US to exclude non-signatories to the WTO agreement, such as China, Brazil and India, from certain parts of its spending...

Well then, it's time for China, Brazil, and India to sign the WTO agreement on government procurement, isn't it?