Canadian businesses will have access to the U.S. market despite so-called Buy America provisions in President Barack Obama's jobs bill, the U.S. ambassador said Tuesday.
David Jacobson told an audience at the Canadian Club in Ottawa that the $477-billion jobs legislation is good for both Canadians and Americans because it will help turn around each country's economy.
Jacobson later told CTV's Power Play that the bill "tries to do exactly that."
"The most important part of it, the thing that I think Canadians really have to pay attention to, is that the thing the United States can do that is the most relevant to the Canadian economy is get our economy in order," he said.
Jacobson also said Canadians need not worry that Buy America provisions will limit access to the U.S. market.
"Canadians will have access," Jacobson told Power Play. "The bill itself provides that we can honour all of our international obligations. That includes NAFTA, that includes WTO agreements, it includes all of our other agreements."
Jacobson said in his speech earlier Tuesday that the provisions were a necessary addition to the legislation to give the bill its best chance of being passed by Congress.
"In case some of you haven't noticed, it is not very easy for the president to get his agenda through Congress. And so he had to make a tough call. He had to try to introduce a bill that had some chance of passing. Hence the Buy America provisions," Jacobson said.
"If the bill doesn't pass, the United States economy -- and in fact the economy of Canada along with it -- is going to suffer."
While the jobs plan died in the U.S. Senate last week, Jacobson said the president will attempt to get parts of the legislation through Congress.
"And for the sake of the United States economy -- and for the sake of the Canadian economy -- we should all hope that he succeeds," he told the audience.
The Buy America provisions caused an uproar in Canada when they were first part of Obama's economic stimulus bill, and are raising concerns again now that they have resurfaced in the jobs plan.
On Monday, Canada's International Trade Minister Ed Fast bemoaned the provisions.
"It's disappointing to see when new trade barriers are erected," Fast said while on a trip to Washington.
"At the same time, we need to place those in perspective and understand that it's absolutely critical for us as a federal government ... to focus on removing trade barriers."
In his speech, Jacobson pointed out that trade between the U.S. and Canada reached $526 billion last year, or about $1 million per minute.
Jacobson's speech came as the U.S. and Canada continue to hammer out a much-delayed perimeter security deal, which was announced back in February.
When asked on Power Play about the delay in finalizing and announcing the pact, Jacobson said both sides are still working on the fine details, but a deal should be done "soon."
He said because border crossings have limited capacity to process people and goods, the aim of the deal is to move decisions about who are what can cross the border "as far away from the border as we can," so it's easier for "honest people and safe goods" to get through.
"This is Beyond the Border effort and the regulatory co-operation are things that are going to benefit the American people and the Canadian people for generations. And we want to make sure we get it right," Jacobson said.
"But if it takes us an extra couple of weeks to get it right and then to reap the benefits for generations, I think that's something that's worth doing."
