(a) In General.—

(1) Allowable materials.—Only unmanufactured articles, materials, and supplies that have been mined or produced in the United States, and only manufactured articles, materials, and supplies that have been manufactured in the United States substantially all from articles, materials, or supplies mined, produced, or manufactured in the United States, shall be acquired for public use unless the head of the Federal agency concerned determines their acquisition to be inconsistent with the public interest, their cost to be unreasonable, or that the articles, materials, or supplies of the class or kind to be used, or the articles, materials, or supplies from which they are manufactured, are not mined, produced, or manufactured in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available commercial quantities and of a satisfactory quality.

(2) Exceptions.—This section does not apply—

(A) to articles, materials, or supplies for use outside the United States;

(B) to any articles, materials, or supplies procured pursuant to a reciprocal defense procurement memorandum of understanding (as described in section 8304 of this title), or a trade agreement or least developed country designation described in subpart 25.400 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation; and

(C) to manufactured articles, materials, or supplies procured under any contract with an award value that is not more than the micro-purchase threshold under section 1902 of this title.


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Terms Used In 41 USC 8302

  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.

(b) Reports.—

(1) In general.—Not later than 180 days after the end of the fiscal year during which the Build America, Buy America Act is enacted, and annually thereafter for 4 years, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, in consultation with the Administrator of General Services, shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Oversight and Reform of the House of Representatives a report on the total amount of acquisitions made by Federal agencies in the relevant fiscal year of articles, materials, or supplies acquired from entities that mine, produce, or manufacture the articles, materials, or supplies outside the United States.

(2) Exception for intelligence community.—This subsection does not apply to acquisitions made by an agency, or component of an agency, that is an element of the intelligence community as specified in, or designated under, section 3 of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003).


(c) Special Rules.—The following rules apply in carrying out the provisions of subsection (a):

(1) Iron and steel manufactured in the united states.—For purposes of this section, manufactured articles, materials, and supplies of iron and steel are deemed manufactured in the United States only if all manufacturing processes involved in the production of such iron and steel, from the initial melting stage through the application of coatings, occurs in the United States.

(2) Limitation on exception for commercially available off-the-shelf items.—Notwithstanding any law or regulation to the contrary, including section 1907 of this title and the Federal Acquisition Regulation, the requirements of this section apply to all iron and steel articles, materials, and supplies.