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US and Canada Thaw Relations By Reducing Buy American Friction

Client Alert | 1 min read | 02.05.10

The U.S. and Canada announced today a tentative agreement that would (1) provide certain permanent and reciprocal commitments under the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) with respect to access to provincial, territorial, and state procurements and (2) temporarily provide Canadian suppliers access to certain state and local public works projects funded under the Recovery Act -- specifically those types of projects from which they were not traditionally excluded by statute (e.g., EPA, HUD and Energy) but were under the broader provision of the Recovery Act -- while in return temporarily provide U.S. suppliers access to a range of construction contracts across Canada's provinces and territories (as well as a number of municipalities). The agreement is subject to completion of each country's domestic approval process which the Canadians [press release] hope could be concluded by February 16, but on the U.S. side will require at least agency waivers under Section 1605 of the Recovery Act and amendment to Note 5 in the General Notes to U.S. GPA Annexes.

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Client Alert | 3 min read | 10.10.25

New Post Appeals Mediation Pilot Program

On October 1, 2025, the IRS Independent Office of Appeals launched a two-year pilot program to make Post Appeals Mediation (PAM) more attractive and accessible to taxpayers. See IRS Announcement 2025-10. The new PAM pilot program offers taxpayers the opportunity to be assigned to a new Appeals team, which is otherwise unconnected to the underlying case, who will represent the original Appeals team in the mediation session. The assignment of the new Appeals team does not begin a new appeals process but rather is intended to help facilitate an expedited and impartial look at the underlying case with the goal of further exploring all potential paths to resolution prior to litigation....