BusinessWeek: The U.S. and China Put Their First String in Washington Summit
Washington, D.C., partner Elliot Feldman, leader of the firm's international trade practice, was quoted in a July 27, 2009, BusinessWeek article, "The U.S. and China Put Their First String in Washington Summit."
The focus of the article is the first Strategic and Economic Summit between China and the Obama administration. According to the article, in the talks, Trade Representative Ron Kirk is expected to press the Chinese to add a provision to its World Trade Organization [WTO] accord called the Government Procurement Agreement [GPA]. The agreement is meant to keep borders open to bids by foreign companies in government contracts. Both the United States and China have enacted restrictive rules for their fiscal stimulus programs, called "Buy America" and "Buy Chinese," respectively. Both are worth hundreds of billions of dollars, according to the article.
According to Feldman, Kirk has "a bit of a hot potato because it takes a bit of gall to tell the Chinese they should sign up for GPA." The WTO agreement that the U.S. signed in the late 1990s, Feldman said, is filled with exceptions, allowing states and cities to block foreign companies from public bidding, which is precisely what U.S. states and cities have done. Since much of the $787 billion federal stimulus is coursed through local governments, the U.S. effectively is blocking China and other countries from participation in the contracts. Much of China's $586 billion stimulus is also channeled through local governments. "We are presuming that China won't have the same exceptions that we have," Feldman said.
Click to read the full article from the BusinessWeek website.