OTTAWA — International Trade Minister Stockwell Day and many Canadian manufacturers and exporters are breathing a sigh of relief as the U.S. Senate moved on President Obama’s promise to water down the protectionist ‘Buy American’ measures in the $900 billion (and counting) U.S. ‘stimulus’ package.

Day told an audience at the Toronto Board of Trade that Canada’s "full-court press" helped convince U.S. lawmakers to soften the provisions, which, among other things, would have restricted imports of foreign-made iron and steel for projects receiving money from the stimulus package.

"Prime Minister Harper was the first world leader to raise this issue and speak against it," he said.

There’s no indication as of yet, though, which proposals will be relaxed or removed from the bill.

While the move is encouraging, Canadian businesses shouldn’t relax too much, Paul Frazer, a former Canadian diplomat and Washington consultant, told The Toronto Star.

He said the protectionist mood in the U.S. right now is troubling and although this issue may have subsided, more of the same "can emerge again very quickly, as this one did."

It’s worth noting as well that the Democratic-controlled House voted not to adopt an amendment that would have killed the protectionist provision outright.