The Buy American Act and Other Federal
Procurement Domestic Content Restrictions

Federal law imposes a number of restrictions requiring federal agencies to acquire items that are
produced or manufactured in the United States. The Buy American Act of 1933 (BAA), the first of the major domestic content restriction laws, requires federal agencies to apply a price preference for “domestic end products” and use “domestic construction materials” for covered contracts performed in the United States. Whether an end product (i.e., an article, material, or supply to be acquired for public use) is considered domestic for BAA purposes depends, in part, upon whether it is unmanufactured or manufactured and whether it “consist[s] wholly or predominately of iron or steel.” Federal law establishes a number of “exceptions” or circumstances in which an agency may purchase foreign end products or permit the use of foreign construction materials without violating the BAA. Click here to read more.