Obama to talk protectionist fears on Canada trip

[Joanne98]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Barack Obama will seek to quell Canadian concerns about U.S. protectionism when he makes his first foreign trip as president on Thursday to the United States' biggest trading partner and energy supplier.

Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper will discuss trade, clean energy technology, the global economic crisis and the war in Afghanistan, officials said, but the president's tight schedule on the one-day trip to Ottawa leaves little time for substantive talks.

Trade will dominate the discussions, and Harper has said he will seek assurances that the "Buy American" clause in the $787 billion U.S. economic recovery package signed by Obama this week will not discriminate against firms in Canada, which sends about 75 percent of its exports to the United States.

U.S. officials, in turn, have said Obama will seek to allay those fears. The president said in an interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation this week that Canadians should not be concerned, noting that history showed that "beggar thy neighbor" protectionist policies could backfire.

http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE51G0YM20090219