Buy American Act | The Contracting Education Academy

March 4, 2021 By cs

How new ‘Made in America’ Executive Order could impact federal contractors

The full impact of President Biden’s “Made in America” executive order compelling federal contractors to purchase more U.S.-manufactured products won’t be clear for some time, according to experts.

Five days after taking office, Biden issued an executive order on January 25 to push federal agencies to buy more products made in the United States. It builds on current laws—the Buy American and Buy America statutes, passed in 1933 and 1982, respectively. The federal government spends about $600 billion annually in contracting and current laws giving preference to American companies are not always followed and haven’t been “substantially updated since 1954,” said a fact-sheet from the White House.

“The [executive order] directs the [Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council] to consider proposing rules to tighten up the [Buy American Acts] requirements,” so “there are no immediate changes,” said Adelicia Cliffe, partner at the law firm Crowell and Moring, who is part of the firm’s government contracts and international trade group. This is because any new rules will have to go through the formal rulemaking process.

Specifically, the executive order said that within 180 days, the FAR Council should consider: replacing the “component test” (which says that over 50% of a product’s cost must have a domestic origin), increasing the numerical threshold for domestic content requirements for construction materials and end products, and increasing the price preferences for domestic construction materials and end products.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.govexec.com/management/2021/02/how-bidens-made-america-executive-order-could-impact-federal-contractors/172259/

February 8, 2021 By cs

White House orders agencies to buy more American-made products and publicly post exemptions

An executive order signed Monday pushes federal agencies to buy more American-made products and services, and comes with new reporting requirements, a new top-level oversight position and a new website.

Since being inaugurated last week, the Biden administration has been issuing a slew of executive orders—many with direct consequences for federal agencies and contractors. Included in Monday’s signings was an order strengthening existing laws that favor U.S.-based manufacturers in federal contracts.

“With this order, President Biden is ensuring that when the federal government spends taxpayer dollars they are spent on American-made goods by American workers and with American-made component parts,” according to a factsheet released ahead of the order. “This executive order fulfills President Biden’s promise to make Buy American real and close loopholes that allow companies to offshore production and jobs while still qualifying for domestic preferences.”

The factsheet notes federal agencies spend $600 billion annually in contract spending. Independent analysis suggests 2020 spending could have been as high as $630 billion.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/policy/2021/01/biden-orders-agencies-buy-more-american-made-products-and-publicly-post-exemptions/171613/

October 21, 2020 By cs

Proposed rule portends increased contractor Buy American Act obligations

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/

August 14, 2019 By AMK

New rule bans government purchase of Chinese telecom gear

Three departments in charge of federal purchasing policy have unveiled an interim rule amending Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to ban agencies from purchasing telecommunications and video surveillance equipment from five Chinese firms, including Huawei.

The interim rule from the General Services Administration, the Department of Defense and NASA took effect Aug. 13 and stems from a provision in the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) prohibiting federal agencies from purchasing telecommunications and video surveillance equipment, along with any “substantial or essential component of any system, or as critical technology as part of any system” from the Chinese tech firms or their affiliates. The regulation language will apply to all new contracts and procurements as well as existing indefinite delivery contracts, as well as options picked up for existing contracts.

While the NDAA does allow for the issuance of individual, one-time waivers to agencies, the rule requires contractors to identify as part of their offer any telecommunications equipment or services that will be provided to the government, including those provided by subcontractors. Acknowledging that such a rule could result in a heavy “information collection burden” on federal agencies, the three departments are updating the System for Award Management to allow contractors to disclose these parts and components on an annual basis.

Keep reading this article at: https://fcw.com/articles/2019/08/07/china-telecom-regulation-johnson.aspx?m=1

February 5, 2019 By AMK

Trump expands ‘Buy American’ requirements to agency procurements

President Trump on Thursday, Jan. 31st added details to his earlier “Buy American” push with a new executive order instructing all agencies to “maximize the use of iron and aluminum as well as steel, cement, and other manufactured products produced in the United States in contracts, sub-contracts, purchase orders, or sub-awards.”

The directive to agency heads builds on an April 2017 “Buy American and Hire American” executive order issued at a time when the Trump administration was expected to press for a major boost in infrastructure construction, which has yet to materialize.

“It is the policy of the executive branch to maximize, consistent with law, the use of goods, products, and materials produced in the United States, in federal procurements and through the terms and conditions of federal financial assistance awards,” the order says, changing the previous term “federal grants” to “federal financial assistance.”

Within 90 days, the head of each agency administering a covered program shall “encourage,” consistent with the law, recipients of federal financial assistance to use, “to the greatest extent practicable, iron and aluminum as well as steel, cement, and other manufactured products produced in the United States in every contract, subcontract, purchase order, or sub‑award that is chargeable against such federal financial assistance award.”

Keep reading this article at: https://www.govexec.com/contracting/2019/02/trump-expands-buy-american-requirements-agency-procurements/154594/

The full impact of President Biden’s “Made in America” executive order compelling federal contractors to purchase more U.S.-manufactured products won’t be clear for some time, according to experts.

An executive order signed Monday pushes federal agencies to buy more American-made products and services, and comes with new reporting requirements, a new top-level oversight position and a new website.

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).

Three departments in charge of federal purchasing policy have unveiled an interim rule amending Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to ban agencies from purchasing telecommunications and video surveillance equipment from five Chinese firms, including Huawei.

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