Australian minister says "Buy America" campaign won't affect Australia's exports to U.S.

CANBERRA. February 19. KAZINFORM Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean expressed his hope on Thursday that the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States should protect Australia's steel exports to the U.S.

"The Buy America campaign has got some restrictions on it now because of the requirement to observe international treaty obligations" Crean told ABC Radio early Thursday. After staging a "Buy America" campaign to ward off the financial crisis which hit America hard, Washington has recently softened a protectionist term in its stimulus package to meet pre-standing obligations under international agreements, which gives some hope that Australian steel export will not be affected greatly; Kazinform cites Xinhuanet.