Canada: Include us in ‘Buy American’

last updated 8 January 2015

Robert Pastor

The Globe and Mail

Canada is on the American continent, too, said Robert Pastor, but you wouldn’t know it from the “Buy American” campaign that encourages U.S. citizens to keep their money at home. With U.S. unemployment high, the slogan is obviously popular. Congress keeps inserting “Buy American” provisions into bills—even though such provisions violate the North American Free Trade Agreement—and President Obama’s most recent State of the Union address “was a rallying cry” for the theme. For Canada to try to lobby against the movement “is like trying to stop a tsunami with your hands.” A better tactic would be “to catch the wave with an affirmative,” and insert the word “North” into the catchphrase. Many U.S. goods, after all, are jointly produced with parts from both Canada and Mexico. Acting as a single large market would help all three economies. Just imagine the economies of scale we would all benefit from if we had a shared infrastructure or transportation grid. U.S. Americans are only hurting themselves with protectionist instincts. So let’s promote “Buy North American.” Such a slogan might actually “awaken the U.S. to the continent’s promise.”