Fact Sheet: Biden-⁠Harris Administration Proposes to Further Strengthen “Made in America” with Shortest Exception List in History

Biden-Harris Administration proposed rule would result in the shortest list of non-available items since the inception of the Federal Acquisition Regulation to boost American manufacturing

President Biden and Vice President Harris believe in a future that is Made in America — with Federal investments supporting American workers and businesses.  Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is taking further steps in its commitment to support domestic manufacturing by proposing a rule to remove 70 articles from the Federal Government’s non-availability list, resulting in the shortest list of non-available articles since the inception of the Federal Acquisition Regulation.  

The rule is proposed by the agency members of the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council—the Department of Defense, the General Services Administration, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.  This rule would support U.S. manufacturers and supply chains and provide opportunities for industrial expansion.

Today’s announcement is the latest action in the Biden-Harris Administration’s historic efforts to strengthen “Made in America”.  In the first week of the Biden-Harris Administration, President Biden signed an Executive Order on Ensuring the Future is Made in America by All of America’s Workers, launching a whole-of-government initiative to strengthen the use of Federal financial assistance and Federal procurement to support American manufacturing.  In addition, the Biden-Harris Administration enacted landmark legislation to invest in America—legislation the last administration failed to pass—which has catalyzed nearly $1 trillion in investments in domestic manufacturing and clean energy to date.

The President and Vice President have also made the most robust change to the Federal government’s implementation of the Buy American Act in almost 70 years to ensure that taxpayer money is supporting workers and manufacturing across America.  The Administration also established a framework to apply enhanced price preferences to critical products and components to strengthen domestic sourcing for certain products and supply chains.

With over $750 billion in annual procurement spending, the Federal Government is a major buyer in various markets for goods and services.  Using that purchasing power to support domestic manufacturing is a key part of the Administration’s industrial strategy to grow the industries of the future to support U.S. workers, communities, and companies.

This rule proposes to remove 70 articles from the list of those presumed to be unavailable from domestic sources, and to remove several strategic items from the list, including critical minerals or foodstuffs.  Highlights of the rule’s proposed elimination of waivers include:

• Articles with sufficient domestic manufacturing capacity: Articles proposed for removal based on demonstrated domestic manufacturing capacity include certain types of beef, petroleum/crude oil, cadmium, and talc.  The United States is the world’s largest producer of crude oil and has sufficient domestic capacity for beef, cadmium, and talc to meet Federal demand.
• Articles presenting national security and supply chain concerns: Articles proposed for removal due to national security and supply chain concerns include microprocessor chips;[1] and critical minerals and rare earth minerals including nickel, platinum, tungsten, tantalum, manganese, cobalt, cadmium, and bauxite.  As the Administration encourages greater recycling of critical minerals and ramps up engagement with allies and partners, it is important to develop insight into federal supply chains for items prioritized under Executive Order 14017, Executive Order on America’s Supply Chains.  If the rule is finalized as proposed, agencies will be required to publish proposed waivers for each acquisition in which they plan to procure these items from foreign sources and a final waiver will be required for the acquisition when an item is not procured domestically or from a partner to the World Trade Organization Agreement on Government Procurement or a trade agreement.  This process should contribute to a more dynamic, diverse, and competitive domestic industrial base and support critical supply chains.

This proposed rule represents a general reset of the list to remove a presumption of nonavailability, encouraging further market research and sending a clear signal to industry.  The proposed rule would also foster investments in the domestic manufacturing of the articles removed from the nonavailability list.

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[1] Microprocessor chips are those brought onto a government construction site as separate units for incorporation into building systems during construction or repair and alteration of real property.