Biden to Sign 'Made in America' Executive Order, Tightening Federal Procurement Rules

President Joe Biden is poised to sign a “Made in America” executive order on Monday, seeking to increase purchases of products made in the United States, chiefly by tightening rules around federal procurement and giving the government a bigger role in supporting U. S. businesses.

Biden’s action is meant to boost federal purchases of American-made goods by making it harder for federal agencies to buy imported products, including by raising local-content requirements, cracking down on waivers that allow exemptions to current Buy American Act rules, and creating a new senior role at the Office of Management and Budget to oversee the implementation of the new efforts.

The White House said in a statement that Biden’s directive modifies the definition of American-made products, raising the domestic content threshold for a purchase to qualify under existing provisions of the Buy American Act, a law adopted in 1933 to require the government to prefer U. S.-made products in its purchases. Besides raising the amount of a product that must be made in the United States to qualify under those rules, Biden’s order also raises the price preference for domestic goods in government procurement. This gives federal agencies more leeway in opting to buy more expensive goods from American-based suppliers rather than... (Read more)

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