On September 14, 2020, the FAR Council published a proposed rule, Case 2019-016 “Maximizing Use of American-Made Goods, Products, and Materials,” 85 FR 56558, which proposes certain increased and new thresholds for contractors subject to the Buy American Act (BAA).

The proposed changes implement Executive Order 13881 (July 15, 2019).  There is a November 13, 2020, deadline for interested parties to submit written comments for consideration in the final rule.

Notwithstanding the potential for the proposed changes to be incorporated into a final rule, the changes will only impact contractors if the basic BAA rules are not overridden by the Trade Agreements Act (TAA) or Balance of Payments Program.  The BAA only applies to purchases over the micropurchase threshold and under the threshold for TAA applicability, which is currently $182,000 for supply contracts and $7,008,000 for construction contracts.  That said, even when a contract exceeds the TAA threshold, the BAA still applies to certain categories of acquisitions, including, but not limited to, sole source awards, small business set-asides, and certain national security or national defense purchases.

Keep reading this article at: https://governmentcontractsnavigator.com/2020/09/30/proposed-rule-portends-increased-contractor-baa-obligations/