President Joe Biden’s tougher Buy American rules, potential protectionism in his US$550-billion infrastructure package and a vow to move medical and military supply chains out of foreign countries are raising fears that Canadian companies will be squeezed out of the U.S.

“They’ve got a new sheriff in town,” the President said at a Mack Truck assembly plant in Macungie, Pa.

public procurement for Canadian companies is unclear.

A senior Canadian government official said Ottawa is not particularly worried about Mr.

Biden’s Buy American rules because they will mostly be neutralized by the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Government Procurement.

Under that deal, Canadian companies are exempted from Buy American requirements on most U.S.

The official said the Canadian government is far more concerned that Mr.

The official said Canada is lobbying the White House for exemptions to ensure Canadian companies are not hurt.

Daniel Ujczo, an Ohio-based trade lawyer with clients on both sides of the border, said Buy American could still cause Canada pain.

companies with government contracts might be discouraged from sourcing goods from Canada because of the hassle involved in doing more paperwork to meet Mr.

Companies might say ‘we don’t want to go through all these requirements to deal with Canadians,’ and just use U.S.

federal government buildings, he said: metals manufacturing, wires, transformers and hydraulics.

Mark Agnew, vice-president of policy at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said Canada could also be sideswiped by a White House plan to move supply chains for critical goods into the United States.

government to source these from American factories as a way to encourage companies to find domestic suppliers.