T
TecHnOLOGy WATCh
face greater competition in the U.S.
44 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2016 www.vanguardcanada.com
o
ver 70 per cent of all Canadi-
an defence exports are des-
tined for the U.S. market. If
you are one of the hundreds
of Canadian companies that
currently exports, or is considering export-
ing to the U.S., you should pay attention
to a recently proposed amendment to the
Fiscal Year 2017 National Defence Autho-
rization Act (NDAA). Buried within this
monstrous piece of U.S. legislation lies a
proposed change to the definition of what
constitutes America's defence industrial
base. This seemingly innocuous change
may increase the level of competition that
Canadian firms face in the near term.
Canada's defence and security industry
currently enjoys privileged access to Amer-
ica's defence marketplace. This unique
arrangement has evolved out of our mul-
titude of shared interests including our ob-
ligations to NATO and our shared respon-
sibility for the defence of North America.
This reality is reflected in a number of bi-
lateral agreements, some dating back to the
middle of the twentieth century.
Among the most important are the De-
fence Production Sharing Agreement
by Michael Petric
Canadian defenCe
and aerospaCe firMs
Canada's defence and secu-
rity sector is innovative and
export intensive. However,
while Canadian offerings
are competitive worldwide,
the United States will
undoubtedly remain our
largest defence market well
into the future.
