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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 | 8 min read | 10.01.25

BIS Issues “Affiliates Rule” to Dramatically Expand Applicability of Entity and Military End-User Lists

On September 29, 2025, the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced a sweeping Interim Final Rule (IFR), (the “Affiliates Rule”) expanding which entities qualify as Entity List or Military End-User entities, thereby subjecting those entities to elevated export control restrictions under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). U.S. export restrictions applicable to entities on the Entity List, Military End-User (MEU) List, and Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN List) now apply to foreign affiliates that are, in the aggregate, owned 50% or more by one or more of the aforementioned entities. An entity that becomes subject to these restrictions because of its ownership structure will be subject to the most restrictive controls that attach to any of its parent entities, regardless of ownership stakes....