Buy American Act 41 U.SC. 10a-10d
General Partitions products comply with the Buy American Act (41 USC 10a-10d). As with all federal building projects before 2009, recipients of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 must comply with the previously established Buy American Act (41 USC 10a-10d) provisions by either certifying that the materials purchased for these projects meet the criteria or apply for a waiver stating that the requirements are consistent with the public interest. The Buy American Act restricts the purchase of supplies that are not domestic end products. It uses a two-part test to define a domestic end product:
1) the article must be manufactured in the U.S.
2) the cost of the domestic components must exceed 50% of the cost of all the components. The Act requires that procurement of covered items in excess of $3,000, the micro-purchase threshold, for supplies and construction materials must be produced in the U.S., its possessions or qualifying countries that are exempt unless the Contracting Officer determines that satisfactory quality and sufficient quantity.
The Trade Agreements Act FAR 52.225-12 states further that the Contracting Officer has the authority to approve a waiver to the Buy American Act under several conditions including inconsistency with public interest.
Build America, Buy America Act (BABA)
Pub. L. No. 117-58, §§ 70901-52
General Partitions Mfg Corp’s commercial restroom partitions comply with the Build America, Buy America Act. As per the Office of Acquisition Management (www.commerce.gov/oam/build-america-buy-america), “The Build America Buy America Act, enacted as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act on November 15, 2021, established a domestic content procurement preference for all Federal financial assistance obligated for infrastructure projects after May 14, 2022. The domestic content procurement preference requires that all iron, steel, manufactured products, and construction materials used in covered infrastructure projects are produced in the United States.” The requirements of BABA are:
1) For iron and steel items, all manufacturing processes, from the initial melting stage through the application of coatings, must occur in the United States.
2) For manufactured products, the final manufacturing process must occur in the United States and the cost of components mined, produced, or manufactured in the United States must be greater than 55 percent.
3) For construction materials, all manufacturing processes must occur in the United States
An article, material, or supply should only be classified into one of the categories above. General Partitions’ toilet partitions are a manufactured product and meet the requirements in item 2 above.
Build America, Buy America requirements can be waived by a Federal agency on the basis of nonavailability, unreasonable cost, or public interest.