Maximizing Use of American-Made Goods, Products, and Materials

Executive Order 13881 of July 15, 2019

Maximizing Use of American-Made Goods, Products,
and Materials

By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, and to promote the principles underlying the
Buy American Act of 1933 (41 U.S.C. 8301-8305), it is
hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Policy. (a) As expressed in Executive Order
13788 of April 18, 2017 (Buy American and Hire
American), and in Executive Order 13858 of January 31,
2019 (Strengthening Buy-American Preferences for
Infrastructure Projects), it is the policy of the
United States to buy American and to maximize,
consistent with law, the use of goods, products, and
materials produced in the United States. To those ends,
my Administration shall enforce the Buy American Act to
the greatest extent permitted by law.

    (b) In Executive Order 10582 of December 17, 1954
(Prescribing Uniform Procedures for Certain
Determinations Under the Buy-American Act), President
Eisenhower established that materials shall be, for
purposes of the Buy American Act, considered of foreign
origin if the cost of the foreign products used in such
materials constitutes 50 percent or more of the cost of
all the products used in such materials. He also
established that, in determining whether the bid or
offered price of materials of domestic origin is
unreasonable or inconsistent with the public interest,
the executive agencies shall either (1) add 6 percent
to the total bid or offered price of materials of
foreign origin, or (2) add 10 percent to the total bid
or offered price of materials of foreign origin less
certain specified costs as follows. Where the foreign
bid or offer is less than $25,000, applicable duty is
excluded from the calculation. Where the foreign bid or
offer is more than $25,000, both applicable duty, and
all costs incurred after arrival in the United States,
are excluded from the calculation.
    (c) The policies described in section 1(b) of this
order were adopted by the Federal Acquisition
Regulatory Council (FAR Council) in the Federal
Acquisition Regulation (FAR), title 48, Code of Federal
Regulations. The FAR should be reviewed and revised, as
appropriate, to most effectively carry out the goals of
the Buy American Act and my Administration's policy of
enforcing the Buy American Act to its maximum lawful
extent. I therefore direct the members of the FAR
Council to consider measures that may better effectuate
this policy.

Sec. 2. Proposed Rules. (a) Within 180 days of the date
of this order, the FAR Council shall consider proposing
for notice and public comment:

(i) an amendment to the applicable provisions in the FAR that would provide
that materials shall be considered to be of foreign origin if:

(A) for iron and steel end products, the cost of foreign iron and steel
used in such iron and steel end products constitutes 5 percent or more of
the cost of all the products used in such iron and steel end products; or

(B) for all other end products, the cost of the foreign products used in
such end products constitutes 45 percent or more of the cost of all the
products used in such end products; and

(ii) an amendment to the applicable provisions in the FAR that would
provide that the executive agency concerned shall in each instance conduct
the reasonableness and public interest determination referred to in
sections 8302 and 8303 of title 41, United States Code, on the basis of the
following-described differential formula, subject to the terms thereof: the
sum determined by computing 20 percent (for other than small businesses),
or 30 percent (for small businesses), of the offer or offered price of
materials of foreign origin.

    (b) The FAR Council shall consider and evaluate
public comments on any regulations proposed pursuant to
section 2(a) of this order and shall promptly issue a
final rule, if appropriate and consistent with
applicable law and the national security interests of
the United States. The head of each executive agency
shall issue such regulations as may be necessary to
ensure that agency procurement practices conform to the
provisions of any final rule issued pursuant to this
order.

Sec. 3. Effect on Executive Order 10582. Executive
Order 10582 is superseded to the extent that it is
inconsistent with this order. Upon the issuance of a
final rule pursuant to section 2 of this order,
subsections 2(a) and 2(c) of Executive Order 10582 are
revoked.

Sec. 4. Additional Actions. Within 180 days of the date
of this order, the Secretary of Commerce and the
Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall,
in consultation with the FAR Council, the Chairman of
the Council of Economic Advisers, the Assistant to the
President for Economic Policy, and the Assistant to the
President for Trade and Manufacturing Policy, submit to
the President a report on any other changes to the FAR
that the FAR Council should consider in order to better
enforce the Buy American Act and to otherwise act
consistent with the policy described in section 1 of
this order, including whether and when to further
decrease, including incrementally, the threshold
percentage in subsection 2(a)(i)(B) of this order from
the proposed 45 percent to 25 percent. The report shall
include recommendations based on the feasibility and
desirability of any decreases, including the timing of
such decreases.

Sec. 5. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order
shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or
the head thereof, including, for example, the authority to utilize non-
availability and public interest exceptions as delineated in section 8303
of title 41, United States Code, and 48 CFR 25.103; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

    (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with
applicable law and subject to the availability of
appropriations.

    (c) This order is not intended to, and does not,
create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law or in equity by any party against
the United States, its departments, agencies, or
entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any
other person.

    (Presidential Sig.)

THE WHITE HOUSE,

    July 15, 2019.