The federal government is making progress in its bid to have the U.S. exempt Canada from its Buy American laws, Trade Minister Stockwell Day said Monday.

Day said there is still some distance to cover before the two sides resolve differences over protectionist clauses that keep Canadian suppliers from bidding on federal infrastructure projects funded under the U.S. stimulus program.

Trade Minister Stockwell Day says Ottawa is making slow progress toward convincing the U.S. to exempt Canada from its Buy American laws. (Clement Allard /Canadian Press)

"This is going to be ongoing," said Day during a visit to Dallas. "I don't want anybody thinking we are going to be having an announcement in one week or two weeks."

Day met Monday in Texas with his U.S. counterpart, Trade Representative Ron Kirk.

"Their response to us is positive in the sense we've seen movement, but I'm not raising hopes here," Day said in a conference call. "There are some areas where we have compatibility and other areas we're sending back to them."

Canada will have a counter-proposal ready when negotiations resume next week, Day said, but he was not specific about the details.

One issue of contention is that not all provinces have agreed to open all areas of procurement to foreign firms.

With files from The Canadian Press