No, we don’t expect a renewal of 1812 hostilities, but in matters of trade …

• From Bloomberg, “Canada Minister Clement Warns of ‘Don’t-Buy-American Backlash’”
• Canada.com, “Wilson confident of resolution to ‘Buy American’ spat”
• Toronto Globe and Mail, “Confusion reigns over Buy American“
• Toronto Globe and Mail, “Tories seek union’s help in fight against ‘Buy American’“
• The Chronicle Herald, “Flaherty: Protectionism bad” [No disagreement there.]
• Watertown Daily Times, “Free trade Other nations follow US protectionism
• Calgary Herald, “Ignatieff warns U.S. of ‘Buy American’ backlash“
• Financial Times Deutschland, “Buy American wird zum Bumerang”
• La Presse Canadienne, “Flaherty: exclure les entreprises des EU n’est pas la chose à faire”
• El Economista (Mexic), “Canadá toma represalias por “Buy American”

Tony Clement is Canadian Industry Minister.

Michael Wilson is Canada’s ambassador to the United States.

Jim Flaherty is Finance Minister.

Michael Ignatieff is leader of the opposition, the Liberal Party.

The German and Mexican links are included just to make the point that the rest of the world is watching and making plans.

More coverage of the comments of Tony Clement, Canadian Minister for Industry, who spoke at the National Association of Manufacturers on Wednesday.

Canadian Press, “Clement says U. S. protectionism ‘expanding’ and ‘cascading’”:

American protectionism is expanding rapidly despite President Barack Obama’s commitment to free trade, Industry Minister Tony Clement said Wednesday.

The so-called Buy American provisions in Obama’s economic stimulus bill are increasingly slamming the door on Canadian companies looking to bid on contracts in the United States, Clement said following a speech to the National Association of Manufacturers.

“What’s happened is these provisions seem to be expanding in scope, and they’re cascading down the system,” said Clement, in Washington to meet with key Obama officials and legislators.

“It seems to be metastasizing a little bit, which is of grave concern to Canada.”

The trend continues despite Obama’s stated support of free trade, he added.

“The Obama administration is our ally on this. They understand the need to combat protectionism,” Clement said.

It’s just an adverb and it’s just an editor’s call, but we didn’t hear “rapidly” in any of Clement’s comments. The “Buy American” provisions in the stimulus and the backlash in Canada are serious concerns, but “expanding rapidly” seems too strong.

CanWest, “U.S. protectionism ‘hurts Americans’: Clement”

Reuters, “Ottawa worries ‘Buy American’ sentiment spreading”

The restructuring of GM Canada with the possibility of aid from Ottawa was another topic Wednesday. Clement repeatedly noted the integration of the U.S.-Canadian manufacturing sectors across the border. Rarely do we hear the phrase “supply chains” mentioned as often as at this news conference.

Canadian Minister of Industry Tony Clement spent the morning at the National Association of Manufacturers, meeting with NAM President John Engler and our trade policy staff,  giving remarks and then answering questions from member companies and associations, and then holding a brief news conference attended by the trade/trade press and Canadian media.

Topic du jour was the “Buy American” provisions in the U.S. economic stimulus bill that have riled many on the northern side of the border. In his news conference, Clement offered a summary of his government’s views and his goals in coming to Washington:

The Canadian government is concerned about any impulses towards more “Buy America” and more protectionism. We see that as inconsistent with the President’s participation in and agreement with the G20 talks and other fora, international fora. It’s a consensus in the world that in order for us to get to the end of the world economy downtown, we need to resist protectionist pressures that we’re all facing, quite frankly, in all our jurisdictions.

We wish to work with the U.S. Administration and with Congress to make sure that this is not something that infringes upon Canada-U.S. trade agreement. We actually think it’s more injurious to American trade, to the health of U.S. trade, to allow these pressures to continued be acted out on.

A lengthier excerpt is available here as a transcript and here as a soundfile.

Several times during his remarks and news conference, Minister Clement mentioned the news conference Secretary of State Clinton gave when she discussed U.S.-Canadian border issues, highlighting security but also emphasizing the importance of commerce. As the Canadian Press reported, Secretary Clinton said security is the goal “without undermining either our relationship or the trade in goods and services, the tourism, the natural flow of people who both work and go to school and recreate on both sides of the border.”

More from Dow-Jones:

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- Canadian Industry Minister Tony Clement expressed concern Wednesday that the Buy American provisions included in the U.S. stimulus package passed earlier this year continue to expand.

“It seems to be metastasizing a little bit, which is of grave concern to Canada,” Clement told reporters during a trip to Washington to meet with Obama administration officials and lawmakers.

Canadian Minister of Industry Tony Clement is speaking at the National ASsociation of Manufacturers Wednesday, addressing the topic, “The Integrated Canada-U.S. Market: Facing Economic Challenges Together to Improve Long-Term Competitiveness.”

Here’s some reading material for those who wish to prepare:

• Washington Post, “Trade Wars Brewing In Economic Malaise — Outrage in Canada as U.S. Firms Sever Ties To Obey Stimulus Rules“
• Toronto Star editorial, “Ottawa lags in trade row“
• Associated Press, “More air cargo gets security screening“
• Financial Post, “Canada posts bigger-than-expected trade surplus in March“
• CBC News, “The no longer quite so undefended Canada-U.S. border“

We inserted a YouTube video of Bobby Bare singing “Detroit City” yesterday into the post about auto industry aid, mostly because we had an excuse to insert a video of Bobby Bare. Twelve-string guitar!

A colleague suggested the message was muddled because, in fact, the song’s narrator does not want to return to Detroit. He’s thinking leaving Detroit to head home.

Last night I went to sleep in Detroit city,
And I dreamed about those cotton fields and home.

We understand that to be a clear reference to more flexible work rules and reasonable wage rates of the auto industry in states like Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and South Carolina.

In any case, here’s Bobby in Norway:

From Norway to Canada. This story was played prominently in today’s National Post (Canada), “Union concessions must be part of auto bailout plan: Clement“:

The federal Industry Minister warned the Canadian Auto Workers union Monday night it must be prepared to make concessions as part of a federal government aid plan to help the ailing Detroit-based auto manufacturers.

“It’s got to be a message that’s got to be heard by the union,” Tony Clement said in an interview with CPAC, the privately-owned public-affairs channel. “There’s a lot of transformation that has to occur — let’s put it that way.”

Mr. Clement is the first federal politician to indicate that union concessions must be part of an overall plan to help rescue General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC.

Back in the USA, from Marketwatch, “Fed unveils $200 billion plan to bolster consumer lending“: “NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — The Federal Reserve unveiled Tuesday what it called a term asset-backed securities loan facility, a plan under which it will lend up to $200 billion to support the issuance of debt backed by consumer and small-business debt, such as credit-card loans, student debt, auto loans and loans backed by the Small Business Administration.”