International Trade Administration ensures market access for small California company under the U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement
October 4, 2012
(ITA)
The Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (ITA) helped EUR
Consulting (EUR), a small California-based engineering company, overcome a
foreign trade barrier that unfairly excluded the company from competing for a
government procurement opportunity in Chile worth $400,000 to which it was
guaranteed market access under the U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
Leveraging the U.S.-Chile FTA, ITA pressed the Chilean government to reconsider
EUR’s eligibility to compete for this project, and opened the door for future
government contracts.
Why it Matters: If ITA had not ensured compliance with the U.S.-Chile FTA, EUR
and other U.S. engineering companies may have continued to experience
discriminatory treatment when competing for other Chilean government
procurements of public works projects. EUR Consulting was deemed ineligible to
compete for a contract worth $400,000, and the case had implications for U.S.
companies competing for future Chilean public works projects. In the aftermath
of Chile’s 2010 devastating earthquake, the country is in the process of
building and rebuilding public structures including hospitals, schools and other
civic institutions. The government procurement provisions of the FTA provide
that U.S. engineering and architecture design firms should have the opportunity
to compete for such covered public works projects.
The Problem: In February 2011, EUR reported to ITA that Chile’s Ministry of
Health excluded it from bidding on a government procurement opportunity to build
a hospital because it did not have prior experience in Chile designing seismic
shock resilient structures. The U.S.-Chile FTA ensures that U.S. companies are
treated the same as Chilean companies when competing for covered government
procurement contracts regardless of whether the U.S. company has in-country
experience. EUR Consulting has prior experience designing buildings throughout
the world that can withstand seismic activity and, in accordance with the FTA,
that experience should have been considered when competing for this project.
The Solution: Advocating on behalf of EUR, ITA officials raised our concerns to
the Chilean government and pressed the importance of upholding the government
procurement provisions of the U.S.-Chile FTA. In May of 2012, Chile’s
government accountability office, which oversees Chile’s bid protest process,
found fault with the Ministry of Health’s decision not to consider EUR’s global
experience when assessing EUR’s eligibility to participate in the procurement,
setting a positive precedent for U.S. companies seeking to do business in Chile.
“Not too many people understand the benefits that free-trade agreements provide
to US Corporations while doing business abroad – having the US Government and
the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (ITA) on your
side truly helps to level the field,” said Eloy Retamal, President of EUR
Consulting and Development, Inc.
Working closely with U.S. companies, ITA creates, expands, and defends market
access for U.S. goods and services overseas through the Trade Agreements
Compliance Program. “We promote policy that develops a more favorable business
climate for U.S. companies in global markets; we employ commercial diplomacy to
resolve trade barriers; and we leverage our bilateral and multilateral trade
agreements to ensure our trading partners live up to their commitments so that
our businesses can compete on a level-playing field.” - Assistant Secretary for
Market Access and Compliance, Michael C. Camuñez.
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