The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) posted a “Report on the Impact of Free Trade Agreements on Buy American Laws” (Report) on its website, dated February 2024. The Report was in response to a directive in the infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
The Biden administration wants to eliminate a Buy America waiver that has allowed the purchase of foreign manufactured goods for use in highway projects since the 1980s. In his State-of-the-Union address on March 7, 2024, President Biden declared “’Buy
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) found deficiencies in the administration’s website that provides information on waivers of Buy American laws in a December 2023 report. In Opportunities Exist to Improve the Reporting of Waivers to
President Biden has vetoed a joint resolution of Congress that was aimed at blocking a Buy America waiver for electric vehicle (EV) chargers, issued by the Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The president’s support of a
This post explores the challenges in implementing the broad domestic preference mandate in the Build America, Buy America (BABA) Act. This mandate has created challenges for entities undertaking infrastructure projects with federal funds, notably the
Four weeks before the implementation of a broad “Buy America” requirement for infrastructure projects, the White House issued guidance to federal agencies. The “Buy America” provision will apply to all infrastructure projects that receive federal
On August 10, 2021, the U.S. Senate passed an infrastructure bill, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which authorizes $1 trillion in spending on a broad range of infrastructure projects. Its 69-30 vote was “overwhelmingly bipartisan.” The
The White House issued initial guidance to implement President Biden’s Made in America order, focusing on increasing opportunities for domestic sourcing and reducing the need for waivers of Made in America laws. It calls for a phased-in
On January 25, President Biden issued his first Made in America order, aimed at maximizing the use of goods, products and materials produced in, and services offered in, the United States in federal financial assistance awards and federal procurement. It
Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, on July 9 put forward a Buy American plan that includes elements that coincide with President Trump’s aims of tightening domestic content requirements and waivers. The Biden plan also includes