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An offer, even if it is irrevocable, is terminated when a rejection reaches the offeror.
The common law rule is the same as art. 17 in the case of revocable offers. The standard Anglo-Canadian textbooks on contracts do not discuss the effect of the rejection of an irrevocable offer before the period of the offer has expired, but the implication appears to be that it makes no difference. [See however, contra, s. 35A of the Rest. Contracts 2d, which deals with the termination of a power of acceptance under an option contract and assimilates a rejection of the offer or a defective acceptance with the rules generally governing the termination of agreements.]
At any rate, that is the position of art. 17 and it appears to me to be a sensible position. The question of what amounts to a rejection is dealt with in art. 19.
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