Ingersoll-Rand’s most sweeping argument is that the government’s obligations under trade agreements trump the contracting law. Ireland and the U.S. are both bound by the World Trade Organization’s Government Procurement Agreement, which requires members not to discriminate against each other’s companies in government contracting.
An endorsement of that argument would represent a reversal for the Obama administration. In 2011, a government rulemaking committee said the law doesn’t conflict with the GPA.
The victory at Homeland Security is already bearing fruit for Ingersoll-Rand, which won a contract in May from the Army Corps of Engineers to install energy-saving equipment on U.S. military bases. The award allows Ingersoll-Rand to compete with 13 other companies over the next two decades for $1.5 billion of government work.