US construction associations call for improvements ‘made in America’ requirements

A group of four US construction associations have joined forces to call for the White House to improve its implementation of its “made in America” requirements for construction products and materials.

Associated General Contractors, (AGC), American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), American Public Transportation Association (APTA) and National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) have all petitioned for change.

They claimed that their members were having “significant difficulty” navigating implementation of the Build America, Buy America Act by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

The Act expands longstanding domestic preference requirements for construction projects that incorporate federal dollars, as a way of boosting domestic manufacturing.

But the associations complained about uncertainty around the waiver process how the Act is being implemented and in particular when it comes to the waiver process.

The Buy America provisions allow for exceptions if domestically made products are not available or cost significantly more to produce.

However, the OMB has to review hundreds of waiver requests made to federal agencies each year. It has a 15-day target for these reviews but the associations claimed that it “often proves to be lengthy and unpredictable”, with politics getting in the way of decisions.

They cited the example of a waiver submitted by the Illinois Department of Transportation on 21 May 2021 that was not posted for public comment until more than two years later.

“Such uncertainty with the waiver process threatens project delays, cost increases and even project cancellations,” they warned.

They called for more timely waivers, given the record number of products utilising federal funding, short-term deficiencies in domestic manufacturing, increased materials costs and unpredictable lead times for key components.

In their filing, they put forward recommendations that they claimed would ensure an “effective and depoliticised” waiver process.

“OMB should focus on implementing the requirements at a generalised level and empower federal agencies with broad discretion to fill in the details,” they said.

They also urged federal officials to create a database listing construction materials and products that are Build America, Buy America Act compliant.

Click here to view a copy of the group’s petition.