The Trump administration’s proposed changes to a trade deal between U.S., Mexico and Canada could harm the information technology industry’s access to contracting opportunities in the two foreign countries, FCW reported Wednesday.One proposed change to the North American Free Trade Agreement would equalize foreign access to U.S. government contracts and U.S. access to foreign markets on a “dollar-for-dollar” basis.
Eminence Griffin, a director at the Information Technology Alliance for the Public Sector, wrote in a blog entry that the dollar-for-dollar approach would “significantly alter the access provided under NAFTA” since the U.S. government contracting market is worth more than $500 billion and Mexico’s and Canada’s markets are valued at $90 billion combined.
Griffin told FCW that changes to NAFTA’s government contracting section could impact all aspects of information technology procurement.
ITAPS wants the Trump administration to urge trading partners to open coverage for comparable entities and markets instead of using the dollar-for-dollar method.
