BAA

Certain exceptions apply to the Buy American Act, such as if the materials are not produced or manufactured in the United States in sufficient commercial quantities or satisfactory quality, or the prime contract is for $10,000 or less.

No comprehensive review has ever been conducted to determine whether COTS items should be exempted from pre-1994 statutory requirements, and the Buy American Act appears to be the only such statute for which the authority has been used.

But with the explosion of international trade, a number of companies have been accused of violating the Buy American Act over the last several years.

The Buy American Act, (26) originally enacted in 1933, applies to all United States federal government purchases of goods valued above a micro-purchase threshold, excluding services.

The Recovery Act also includes Buy American Act requirements, extends the reach of Davis-Bacon labor standards, expands access of the GAO and the various offices of Inspectors General to contractor records, and creates an independent board to coordinate and conduct oversight of covered funds to prevent fraud, waste and abuse.

The Buy American Act ("BAA"), a stand alone federal law, which originally was passed in 1933, requires the use of materials, supplies, and manufactured goods produced in the United States on public projects, (25) and a provision stating as much must be inserted into public contracts.

Another example of the possible effect of country of origin procedures on trade policies and objectives is illustrated by the "Buy American Act" [41 U.S.C.

Buy American Act No Longer Applies to Acquisitions of IT Commercial Items

The report should also indicate contracts and subcontracts and their dollar values for goods and services that are only available from foreign sources as well as items and their dollar values for which the Buy American Act was waived pursuant to obligations of the United States under international agreements.

The proposed rule means vendors "will no longer need to track the origin of components to determine if an information technology product complies with Buy American Act requirements," DOD said in its Federal Register notice.