More than a month after President Biden issued an Executive Order focused on expanding the Buy American and Buy America statutes and regulations, questions remain as to the current applicability of the Buy American rules in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR).
Continue reading at: Government Contracts Insider
The Federal Circuit struck down an element of the government’s longstanding definition of what qualifies as U.S.-made for purposes of procurement law. In Acetris Health LLC v. United States, No. 18-2399 (Fed. Cir. 2020), a three judge panel found the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) definition of U.S.-made to be “untenable” and instead found that pharmaceuticals with an active ingredient from India that are manufactured into final form in the U.S. qualify as U.S.-made for purposes of procurement law. The decision, if not successfully challenged, will have broad-ranging impacts not only in the pharmaceutical industry but for many government contractors with international supply chains. It also raises important questions about how federal agencies will implement the court’s guidance.
Continue reading at: Arnold & Porter
On July 15, 2019, President Trump signed Executive Order 13881 addressing domestic preferences in government procurement. Unlike Executive Order 13788 (April 18, 2017) and Executive Order 13858 (Jan. 31, 2019), which had no substantive effect on existing domestic preference statutes and regulations, this one does.
EO 13881 calls for the FAR Council to make two significant changes to FAR clauses implementing the Buy American Act. The first increases the domestic content requirements for items to comply with the Buy American Act. The second increases the price preference for domestic products.
Continue reading at: The Contractor’s Perspective
Congress enacted the Buy American Act (“BAA”) during the Great Depression, in order to protect American industry from foreign competition on federal procurement contracts. While the BAA is simplistic in its policy goal of promoting domestic purchasing, government contractors and subcontractors are often faced with complex and confusing rules for compliance.
The operative language of the BAA provides:
Only unmanufactured articles, materials, and supplies that have been mined or produced in the United States, and only manufactured articles, materials, and supplies that have been manufactured in the United States substantially all from articles, materials, or supplies mined, produced, or manufactured in the United States, shall be acquired for public use unless the head of the department or independent establishment concerned determines their acquisition to be inconsistent with the public interest or their cost to be unreasonable.
The Government flows down BAA requirements to government contractors in the form of standardized clauses contained in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”) and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (“DFARS”).
The key to understanding the BAA is determining whether the solicited goods or “end products” are domestic, i.e. were mined, produced, or substantially manufactured in the United States.
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President Donald Trump on Jan. 31 signed an executive order asking federal agencies to promote the purchase of American-made materials by contractors working on infrastructure projects that receive federal grants or loans.
Within 90 days, agencies covered by the order must submit their plan as to how they will encourage contractors on such projects to buy domestically-produced products including iron, aluminum, steel and cement. Within 120 days, agencies must also report any “tools, techniques, terms, or conditions” that they have used or believe they should use to promote the agenda outlined in the executive order.
Agency heads were also asked to consider in their reports whether a Buy American mandate on projects that receive federal financial assistance would be feasible.
Keep reading this article at: https://www.constructiondive.com/news/trump-executive-order-extends-buy-american-policy/547507/
On February 28, 2017, President Donald J. Trump addressed a joint session of Congress for the first time and outlined his plan for a “new chapter of American Greatness.”
That plan included continued emphasis on protecting United States labor and manufacturing, and can be summarized in a few words often repeated by President Trump: “Buy American and Hire American.”
This rhetoric foreshadows the significant likelihood that enforcement of requirements for domestic sourcing and content, including the Buy American Act, 41 U.S.C. §§ 8301–8305, and the Trade Agreements Act, 19 U.S.C. §§ 2501–2581, will be a priority of the Trump Administration.
Keep reading this article at: https://www.insidegovernmentcontracts.com/2017/03/president-trumps-first-address-congress-foreshadows-increased-buy-american-act-enforcement/
